Blockchain security startup Ledger scoops £56 million funding round

The VC contributed £18 million to the round, with additional funding from Draper Venture Network funds as well as FirstMark Capital, Cathay Capital, and Korelya Capital. The firm claims the funding is the largest venture capital series B investment into blockchain and cryptocurrency related technologies to date. Existing investors, CapHorn Invest, GDTRE and Digital Currency Group, also participated in the round.

Ledger claims its hardware wallet solves the problems facing investors in securing their crypto-assets in a chaotic expanding market, holding wallets offline in cold storage and away from the prying eyes of hackers. The company, which has grown from eight staff at inception in 2014 to employing 82 people in San Francisco, Paris and Vierzon, has sold over a million of its cryptocurrency hardware wallets to customers in 165 countries. The firm is also set to launch a new service for financial institutions, the Ledger Vault, enabling hedge funds, banks and family offices to manage their crypto assets.

Tim Draper, founder of DFJ, the Draper Network, and one the largest owners of Bitcoin, comments: “Ledger creates security for cryptocurrency far beyond what I get from my bank. This is where people store money now. Ledger lets me take control of my currency rather than having to ask my bank. We’re seeing digital currency blossom across every continent and so several of the Draper Network funds, from Silicon Valley, Europe and Asia have come together to fund Ledger and help them expand globally.”