Cryptocurrency wallet provider BRD has raised $15 million in new funding, which will be put towards expanding the use of its technology in Japan and across Asia, the company announced on Friday.
The capital was raised through a Series B round, the second stage of financing for the company, and was led by the crypto arm of Japanese firm SBI Holdings, SBI Crypto Investment.
Including the new funding, BRD has raised nearly $50 million for its Series B round, making it one of the most well-funded companies in the cryptocurrency industry. The company said it would use the new investments to accelerate the development of its product that serves over 1.0 million users in 170 countries. BRD claims to have $6 billion of crypto assets under protection.
Founded in 2015 by Aaron Voisine, Adam Traidman, and Aaron Lasher, the venture-backed company had operated originally as a side product called Bread Wallet. It was touted by its founders as the first iOS bitcoin wallet in the App Store, and 76 percent of its users are already using Apple OS.
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The Zurich-based startup initially focused on bitcoin, but then has branched out into other Cryptocurrencies and now supports multiple altcoins and plans to expand that offering to more coins in the future.
Commenting on the news, Adam Traidman, CEO and Co-founder of BRD, said: "SBI Group’s investment in BRD allows us to firmly cement ourselves in the Asian market. It shows incredible support for the foundation that we have built in North America and reinforces our proven ability to scale the success we have achieved in the past 4 years. The new investment will ensure our long-term global growth, and we are incredibly excited about collaborating with SBI as a strategic investor and business partner to make that happen.”
Yoshitaka Kitao, president & CEO of SBI Holdings Inc added: “The SBI Group has been enhancing investments and partnerships with Blockchain -related companies across the world. The partnership with BRD would accelerate our development of financial services utilizing blockchain / DLT, leading to fintech services that are highly beneficial and efficient for our customers.”
