Talos, a New York-based crypto asset trading platform, received $105m in series B funding from investors including financial services firms Citi, Wells Fargo, Fidelity, Siam Commercial Bank, trading firm DRW and payment processor PayPal.
Founded in 2018 and emerging from stealth in 2020, Talos operates a suite of services including trading platforms, lending marketplaces, settlement tools and data and analytics aimed at facilitating institutional investment in digital assets.
The roster of financial institutions backing the round speaks to the increased appetite in the financial sector for exposure to digital and crypto-adjacent assets, which they have typically been weary of given the uncertainty surrounding them.
“We have long heard that ‘the institutions are coming’. The institutions are now here.”
“This funding round represents a major inflexion point for the industry,” said Talos co-founder and chief executive Anton Katz. “We have long heard that ‘the institutions are coming’. The institutions are now here, and we are extremely proud to be the digital asset trading platform of choice for leading institutions around the world.”
“We believe that the digital assets infrastructure will have a wide-scale impact on the entire financial industry and ultimately, we will see traditional asset classes ultimately migrate to this new technology as well.”
Talos plans to use the proceeds to expand its product line and grow its team around the globe.
General Atlantic led the round, which featured BNY Mellon, Stripes, Matrix Capital Management, Fin VC, Voyager Digital, LeadBlock Partners, Graticule Asset Management Asia, Andreessen Horowitz, Illuminate Financial, Initialized Capital, Castle Island Ventures and Notation Capital.
Wells Fargo, DRW, Siam Commercial Bank and PayPal invested through their respective subsidiaries Wells Fargo Strategic Capital, DRW Venture Capital, SCB 10x and PayPal Ventures.
It comes a week after Citi took part in a $30m series B round for digital asset data provider Amberdata, which is also aiming to facilitate institutional activity in crypto assets, alongside corporate investors like stock exchange operator Nasdaq, trading firm Chicago Trading Company and financial services firm NAB.
PayPal Ventures and Fidelity both took part in a $40m series A round for Talos a year ago, which was led by Andreessen Horowitz and included Illuminate Financial, Autonomous Partners, Castle Island Ventures, Notation Capital, Initialized Capital, Elefund, Galaxy Digital and Steadfast Venture Capital.
Coinbase Ventures, the corporate venturing arm of cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase, invested in an Initialized Capital-led round of undisclosed size when the company came out of stealth in late 2020. Autonomous Partners, Notation Capital, Castle Island Ventures, Founders Collective and V1.VC also took part in the round.
Image courtesy of Talos