Fintech

BitFury Group, a San Francisco, CA- and Amsterdam, The Netherlands-based bitcoin infrastructure provider, raised $20m in financing. Backers included Binary Financial, Crypto Currency Partners, Georgian Co-Investment Fund, Queensbridge Venture Partners and ZAD Investment Company, and angel investors Bill Tai and Jonathan Teo. The company intends to use the funds to build out its facilities in […]

Nordea, The Northern European financial services group, has selected iZettle, the Stockholm, Sweden-based provider of mobile payment services and apps that received $55.5m in Series C funding last week (read here), to be its provider of mobile point of sale (mPOS) solutions in Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Finland. Under the cooperation agreement, Nordea will promote […]

BitPay, an Atlanta, GA-based provider of solutions for Bitcoin digital currency, raised $30m (€22M) in Series A funding. The round was led by Index Ventures, with participation from Horizons Ventures, Founders Fund, Felicis Ventures, RRE Ventures, TTV Capital, Sir Richard Branson, and AME Cloud Ventures. In conjunction with the funding, Jan Hammer from Index Ventures […]

iZettle, a Stockholm, Sweden-based provider of mobile payment services and apps, closed a €40m Series C funding. The round was led by London-based growth investor Zouk Capital, with participation from Dawn Capital and Intel Capital, and Series A and B investors Creandum, Greylock Partners, Index Ventures, Northzone and SEB Private Equity. In conjunction with the […]

Vaurum, a Palo Alto, CA-based cryptocurrency company focused on building a commercial infrastructure for Bitcoin to better integrate cryptocurrencies into the traditional financial system, raised $4m in seed funding. Backers included Battery Ventures and angel investors Tim Draper, managing director and co-founder of investment firm Draper Fisher Jurvetson, and Steve Case, former chairman and chief […]

Future Capital Bitcoin Fund (FCBF), an Australian headquartered investment firm, has launched a $30m Bitcoin Fund. The fund targets global companies that are leveraging services based on Bitcoin and other crypto-currencies. It will source opportunities globally for companies facilitating payments, exchanges, trading and smart property rights based around the Bitcoin digital currency ecosystem. Led by […]

PayStand, a Santa Cruz, California-based provider of an online payment solution, raised $1m in seed funding. Backers included Serra Ventures, Cervin Ventures, Central Coast Angels, and TiE LaunchPad. The company intends to use the funds to build new payment functions and features. Led by Jeremy Almond, CEO and founder, PayStand provides an online payment solution […]

Circle Internet Financial, a Boston, MA-based digital currency company, closed a $17m Series B financing. The round was led by investor Oak Investment Partners, with participation from Pantera Capital, the Bitcoin Opportunity Fund of Barry Silbert, Leonard H. Schrank, Circle board member M. Michele Burns, and Fenway Summer, a consumer finance advisory and venture firm led […]

GoCoin, a Santa Monica, CA-based international payment platform for digital currencies, closed a $1.5m Series A equity financing. The round was led by Bitcoin Shop, Inc. (OTCQB: BTCS) and former Facebook COO, Owen Van Natta, with participation from Crypto Currency Partners, Andrew Frame (Ooma), David Neuman (Current TV, CNN), and others. The company intends to […]

Payward completed a $5m Series A round of funding. The round was led by Hummingbird Ventures. Payward raised the funds to grow its San Francisco, CA-based Kraken division, an online exchange for Bitcoin, Ripple, Litecoin, Namecoin, Dogecoin, Ven and other digital currencies. Led by Jesse Powell, founder and CEO, Kraken allows customers to trade digital […]

Benchmark, Fortress Investment Group and Ribbit Capital are acquiring an interest in Pantera Bitcoin Partners LLC., a subsidiary of investment firm Pantera Capital. Following the transaction, these shareholders and their principals will generally make their purchases of Bitcoin and other digital currencies via investments in Pantera Capital. Founded by Daniel W. Morehead in 2003 with […]

OKCoin, a Chinese bitcoin trading platform, raised $10m in Series A financing. The round was led by Ceyuan, a Chinese venture capital firm, followed by Mandra Capital, VenturesLab and other angel investors. The company intends to use the funds for team and international expansion, research and development, and security improvement. Led by CEO Star Xu, […]

According to a blog post, Xapo, a Palo Alto, CA-based Bitcoin company that offers online and offline security solution, raised $20m in Series A funding. The round was led by Benchmark, with participation from Fortress Investment Group and Ribbit Capital. The company intends to use the funds to strengthen the team. Led by Wences Casares, […]

Bitcoin Decentral, a Canadian hub for the decentralized Bitcoin community, is launching an accelerator dedicated to funding and growing startups focused on cryptocurrencies and innovative tech. Led by Anthony Di Iorio, CEO, founder and general partner, and A. Traviss Corry, Managing Director and founding partner, Toronto-based Bitcoin Decentral Accelerate will offer a three month custom […]

Life.SREDA, a Moscow, Russia-based venture capital firm, released a new report on global investments in fintech startups (download it here). According to the document, global fintech startup investments in 2013 amounted to $2.2 billion, with a more than a 480% increase from 2012 ($458.6m). Geographically, the United States dominates fintech investing, with about $1.8 billion […]