AAA Elliptic decrypts $60m series C round

Elliptic decrypts $60m series C round

Elliptic, a UK-based developer of cryptocurrency risk management technology, has completed a $60m series C round featuring telecommunications and internet group SoftBank and financial services firms Wells Fargo and SBI Group.

Evolution Equity Partners led the round and was also joined by AlbionVC, Digital Currency Group, Paladin Capital Group, SignalFire and Octopus Ventures while SoftBank and Wells Fargo participated through Vision Fund 2 and Wells Fargo Strategic Capital respectively.

Founded in 2013, Elliptic operates a software platform that uses blockchain analytics to help financial institutions and businesses dealing in cryptocurrency analyse transactions for signs of illicit activity such as money laundering or sanctions evasion.

The company will use the cash to advance research and development, grow its team to 200 by the end of 2022 and expand its global customer base as it looks to benefits from tailwinds such as the growing prevalence of cryptocurrency and the growing push to regulate them.

Wells Fargo Strategic Capital took Elliptic’s series B round to $28m in February 2020 following an SBI Group-led $23m tranche in September 2019 featuring banking group Santander’s corporate venturing subsidiary, Santander InnoVentures (since spun off into Mouro Capital), AlbionVC, SignalFire and Octopus Ventures.

Elliptic had previously raised $5m in a 2016 series A round led by Paladin Capital Group that included Santander InnoVentures, KRW Schindler, Digital Currency Group and Octopus Ventures, the last of which had provided $2m of seed funding two years earlier alongside several angel investors.

Evolution Equity Partners’ founder and managing partner, Richard Seewald, will join Elliptic’s board following the round.

By Fernando Moncada Rivera

Fernando Moncada Rivera is a reporter at Global Corporate Venturing and also host of the Global Venturing Review podcast.