Ledger, a France-based cryptocurrency and blockchain security technology provider backed by insurance firm Maif, raised $75m today in a series B round led by venture capital firm Draper Esprit.
The oversubscribed round included three more parts of the Draper network related to venture capitalist Tim Draper – Draper Associates, Draper Dragon and Boost VC – along with FirstMark Capital, Cathay Innovation, Korelya Capital, CapHorn Invest, GDTRE and Digital Currency Group.
Founded in 2014, Ledger has sold more than 1 million of its cryptocurrency wallets globally, and is seeking to capitalise on the increased investment in the sector with Ledger Vault, a system that will help banks, hedge funds and family offices securely store and manage their crypto assets.
The company’s blockchain security technology is based on an operating system that can run on any secure hardware, and which is designed to work with any cryptocurrency. Ledger intends to also adapt it for a range of security applications, for emerging sectors such as autonomous cars and the internet of things.
Eric Larchevêque, chief executive of Ledger, said: “We initially designed our Ledger hardware wallet as an enabler for the blockchain revolution.
“Three years later and with this series B, we are reaching a significant milestone in our path to build a technological giant in the promising space of cryptocurrencies. These funds will be used to keep investing significantly in R&D while scaling our operations and deploying our teams globally.”
Draper Esprit invested $24m in Ledger as part of the series B round, according to the Irish Independent. Maif took part in Ledger’s last round, a $7m series A in March 2017, through corporate venturing unit Maif Avenir.
The series A round included Xange, which led Ledger’s $1.5m seed round in 2015, as well as GDTRE, Digital Currency Group, Whittemore Collection, Wicklow Capital, Libertus Capital, Kima Ventures, BHB Network and angel investor Nicolas Pinto.