Israel-based blockchain technology developer Colu has secured a $14.5m investment from diversified conglomerate IDB Development Corporation, Globes has reported.
Founded in 2014, Colu has used blockchain technology to create a wallet app for localised digital currencies that can be used within specified communities to encourage local spending.
The platform has approximately 100,000 users across three cities in the UK and one in Israel, and processes more than 85,000 monthly transactions.
Colu unveiled plans last month to raise $50m through an initial coin offering for its own cryptocurrency, Colu Local Network (CLN). The investment from IDB will be split between the company and the token presale for CLN.
The company had previously raised $9.6m in a June 2016 series A round featuring venture capital firms Aleph, Spark Capital and Digital Currency Group as well as angel investor Tom Glocer.
Aleph, Spark, Digital Currency Group and BoxGroup had already provided $2.5m in seed financing for Colu in January 2015.
Sholem Lapidot, chief executive of IDB Development Corporation, told Globes: “IDB believes that Colu will help to support the growth of blockchain technology as a real-life payment method.
“We strongly believe that crypto technology will play a key role in the future form of payment for goods and services and we are thrilled to be rolling out plans for increased innovation in our diverse industries, with the help of Colu.”