Crypto hardware wallet maker, Ledger has secured $380 million in its Series C Funding Round closed recently, making it one of the highest venture capital funding rounds of the cryptocurrency industry.
Announced on Thursday, the crypto startup now has an implied valuation of more than $1.5 billion after the funding.
The round was led by 10T Holdings and received the backing of several existing investors like Cathay Innovation, Draper Associates, DCG, Korelya Capital and Wicklow Capital. Several other venture capitals like Tekne Capital, Uphold Ventures, Felix Capital, Inherent and a few others also made their first investment into the startup.
Founded in 2013, Ledger previously raised $8.3 million and $75 million in Series A and Series B funding rounds, respectively.
Polishing and Expending Services
The latest announcement detailed that the fresh proceeds will go towards innovating its hardware products. In addition, the company has plans to bring Decentralized Finance (DeFi) services and expand its enterprise capabilities.
Ledger will additionally invest a portion of its funding on its proprietary operating system, which runs on all its hardware devices.
Ledger’s CEO Pascal Gauthier commented: “This Series C announcement marks the transition of Ledger from the leading digital asset security company to becoming the secure gateway to the entire digital asset ecosystem. This industry is fast becoming mainstream and reshaping the entire financial sector and beyond.”
Though Ledger is the leading manufacturer of hardware wallets, creating a safe environment for storing crypto, the company is no stranger to controversies. It suffered a data breach last year, resulting in the leak of customer emails and other information of many of its customers. However, wallet-related information remained safe.
It is facing a class-action lawsuit in the United States by several victims of the breach.
However, venture capitalists are still bullish on the startup due to its market dominance and growing crypto adoption.
“We believe Ledger is the premier security company and premier brand name in the cryptocurrency/Blockchain space. We see a tremendous future for its new lines of business and expect it to become one of the very few dominant firms in the ecosystem,” Dan Tapiero, Founder and CEO of 10T Holdings, said.