June 23rd, 2017 at 6:56 am UTC · 4 min read
Blockchain, the world’s leading software platform for digital assets, announced that it has raised $40 million in a Series B led by Lakestar with participation from GV (formerly Google Ventures), Nokota Management, Digital Currency Group and existing investors Lightspeed Venture Partners, Mosaic Venture Partners, Prudence Holdings, Virgin, and Sir Richard Branson (Virgin Group).
This fundraising round represents the most substantial investment in the fintech space since Brexit and is the largest Series B raised by any digital currency company to date.
“We are thrilled to lead the investment in Blockchain and believe in their vision of a more transparent, affordable, and fair financial future. To have Blockchain, the leader in fintech, based in Europe reinforces what innovation and impact the Eurozone is capable of achieving,” said Dharmash Mistry, General Partner at Lakestar.
Founded in 2011 as an open source software project, today Blockchain offers the largest digital asset platform in the world. The company’s wallet software has empowered millions of active users in 140 countries across the globe to transact quickly and without costly intermediaries, resulting in billions of monthly consumer transaction volume. They also offer tools for developers and real time transaction data for users to analyze the burgeoning digital economy.
“The pace of innovation in the digital currency space is unmatched,” said Tom Hulme, General Partner at GV. “We were impressed by Blockchain’s consistent market traction and dedication to building secure financial products for an increasing number of users.”
The new capital will support global expansion and localization efforts as well as research and development of emerging digital assets. Blockchain’s CEO and Co-Founder, Peter Smith stated, “The 14 trillion dollar financial services industry hasn’t meaningfully changed in over a century. Blockchain is on a mission to create a financial system that is faster, more inclusive, and radically different than the status quo.”
In 2014, the company raised $30.5 million in what was the largest investment in the digital currency industry at the time. Investor and current board member Jeremy Liew from Lightspeed Venture Partners confirmed, “Blockchain was one of the first digital currency wallets, quickly grew to market leadership, and has only extended its lead since then. Now that bitcoin and Blockchain have started to get broader traction, they are the best positioned to become the mainstream leaders.”
About Blockchain:
Blockchain is on a mission to build a more open, accessible, and fair financial future, one piece of software at a time. Thanks to its rapid expansion and position as the world’s most popular bitcoin wallet, the firm’s technology is revolutionizing the $13T financial services industry by empowering millions across the globe to authenticate and transact immediately and without costly intermediaries. (www.blockchain.com).
About Lakestar:
Lakestar is global venture capital group that invests in highly disruptive technology companies across all stages of their lifecycle. With offices in London, Berlin, Zurich, and New York, the group’s portfolio includes Spotify, Opendoor, SOFI, Oscar, Harry’s, Algomi, Taulia, GoEuro amongst others. The Blockchain investment was co-lead by General Partners Dharmash Mistry and Nicolas Brand.(www.lakestar.com).
About Lightspeed Venture Partners:
Lightspeed Venture Partners an early stage venture capital firm focused on accelerating disruptive innovations and trends in the Enterprise and Consumer sectors. Over the past two decades, the Lightspeed team has backed hundreds of entrepreneurs and helped build more than 300 companies globally, including Snap, The Honest Company, GIPHY, Nest, Affirm, Blockchain, Nutanix, AppDynamics, and MuleSoft. The firm currently manages over $4 billion of committed capital and invests in the U.S. and internationally, with investment professionals and advisors in Silicon Valley, Israel, India and China. (www.lsvp.com).
About Digital Currency Group:
Digital Currency Group (DCG) is a company that builds, buys, and supports bitcoin and blockchain companies leveraging its network, insights, and access to capital. The DCG network includes over 100 companies across 27 countries, as well as subsidiaries DCG Connect (http://dcgconnect.co), Grayscale (https://grayscale.co/), and Genesis Trading.