Abra, the US-based developer of a mobile wallet for digital currencies, closed a $16m series B round on Monday that included payment services firm American Express and manufacturing services provider Foxconn.
The corporates took part through respective subsidiaries American Express Ventures and HCM International, and were joined by Silver8 Capital, Ignia, Arbor Ventures, Jungle Ventures, Lehrer Hippeau Ventures and RRE Ventures.
Founded in 2014, Abra has developed a digital currency wallet based on Bitcoin that lets users send money instantly through a smartphone app without needing a bank account. Users can send and store Bitcoin or fiat currencies, and the service charges fees when a user adds or withdraws funds.
Abra has now raised more than $35m in total. It closed $12m in series A funding in September 2015 from Arbor Ventures, RRE Ventures and First Round Capital, before adding an undisclosed sum from American Express and individual investor Ratan Tata the following month.
The company had raised $2m in seed capital from investors including Blockchain Capital, Carthona Capital, Cyanotype, Digital Currency Group, Future Perfect Ventures, Haystack, Jungle Ventures, Launch Fund, Lerer Hippeau Ventures, Liberty City Ventures, Nyca Partners and Pantera Capital in 2014.
Jack Lee, managing partner at HCM International, said: “We believe that Abra represents the future of digital payments and banking.
“Abra’s vision for a decentralised network of people, merchants and consumer devices all connected via internet-based open blockchain technology can usher in a new era of financial inclusion and access to capital for billions of consumers.”