Crypto hardware wallet developer Ledger has raised the majority of the €100 million ($109 million) planned for its extended Series C funding, Bloomberg reported Thursday.
In 2022, the company revealed its plans to raise new capital after closing its Series C funding with $380 million from investors such as Cathay Innovation, Draper Associates, Draper Dragon, and crypto conglomerate Digital Currency Group (DCG).
The funding brought its valuation to around $1.4 billion at the time. Despite the new funding, its evaluation remains close to the figure reported after the financing round in June 2021.
According to the report, the latest round saw participation from venture capital firms such as True Global Ventures, Cité Gestion SPV, Digital Finance Group, and VaynerFund. Existing partners such as 10T, Cap Horn, Morgan Creek, and Cathay Innovation also contributed to the round.
Ledger Plans to Expand Its Business
In a separate blog post addressing the extended Series C funding round, the company said it would deploy the new capital towards expand its business offerings, including the hardware and services part of the firm.
“Today, Ledger announced our funding round. I’m grateful for our long-term investors’ continued support, and I welcome new investors backing the current undeniable revolution of value and hardware. These funds will accelerate our mission to bring a new generation of secure consumer devices to hundreds of millions exploring critical digital assets and blockchain-enabled technology,” said the company’s chief executive officer Pascal Gauthier.
The Paris-based firm recently introduced a new hardware product, Ledger Stax, developed by Tony Fadell, the co-inventor and designer of the iPod & iPhone, with the company’s unparalleled security.
Hardware wallets see increased demand
The company saw an increased demand for its wallets last year after the collapse of Terra (LUNA) and FTX. Gauthier said people became afraid to keep their crypto assets in centralized exchanges after the two notable events that wiped out billions of dollars from the industry.
The Ledger’s executive also told Bloomberg in an interview that “suddenly people were like ‘wow’ leaving crypto in an exchange could be risky. And 2023 is even better for us because now you can’t even leave money at a Swiss bank,” referring to the recent bank failures in America.
Gauthier believes the internet’s value will significantly increase within five to ten years, reshaping how people own and manage their crypto assets.
Update: This article was updated on March 31 at 06:19 GMT to correct an error in the amount raised by Ledger. An earlier article mentioned that the project had raised the majority of the £100 million ($126 million).
