VivoPower International PLC, a Nasdaq-listed sustainable energy company, has entered a definitive joint venture agreement with South Korean asset manager Lean Ventures to create a dedicated investment vehicle targeting $300 million worth of private Ripple Labs shares. The vehicle is designed for qualified institutional and retail investors in South Korea, offering them indirect exposure to the XRP ecosystem.
The agreement, announced on December 15, 2025, will see Lean Ventures arrange the vehicle's creation, with VivoPower's digital asset arm, Vivo Federation, sourcing the Ripple equity. VivoPower has already received approval from Ripple to acquire an initial tranche of preferred shares and is negotiating further purchases from existing institutional shareholders. The company estimates the $300 million share position is equivalent to roughly 450 million XRP tokens, translating to an XRP-linked exposure of approximately $900 million at prevailing market prices.
"With this dedicated investment vehicle, qualifying South Korean institutional and retail investors can gain exposure to Ripple Labs shares and, in turn, XRP at a material discount to the spot price," said Adam Traidman, chairman of VivoPower's advisory council. He emphasized South Korea's strategic importance, noting it is the world's largest holder of XRP by value and token count.
VivoPower will not deploy its own capital but expects to generate around $75 million in management and performance fees over three years. Participants will hold full legal ownership of the shares, recorded on Ripple's capitalization table, with quarterly audits by an independent auditor for transparency. The structure provides exposure to Ripple's broader business, including its RLUSD stablecoin and infrastructure ventures like Metaco.
This deal follows VivoPower's earlier moves into the XRP ecosystem. In June, the company raised $121 million in a private placement, making it one of the first listed firms to base its treasury on XRP instead of Bitcoin or Ether. It has deployed XRP into yield-generating structures, including a $100 million allocation through Flare's FAssets system, and adopted Ripple's RLUSD stablecoin.
Separately, Ripple continues to expand its institutional footprint in Asia and Europe. SBI Ripple Asia, regulated by Singapore's Monetary Authority, signed a memorandum of understanding with Doppler Finance to become an institutional custodian for XRP and develop XRP-based yield products and real-world asset tokenization on the XRP Ledger. Additionally, Ripple has partnered with Swiss-regulated Amina Bank AG, which will become the first European bank to use Ripple's licensed end-to-end payments network.
