Blockstream has raised $55m in Series A funding to continue its work expanding the bitcoin code base for commercial use. Blockstream’s total funding rises to $76m over two investment rounds. To date, the company’s signature technology has been its sidechains offering, currently in testing, which enables the creation of blockchains that can validate data from, and transfer assets to, other blockchains.
Blockstream’s round was led by venture capital firms AXA Strategic Ventures, the venture capital arm of French multinational insurance firm AXA Group; Digital Garage, the Tokyo-based online payments firm co-founded by Joi Ito; and Hong Kong venture capital firm Horizons Ventures. AME Cloud Ventures, Blockchain Capital and Future\Perfect Ventures were among other investment firms that participated in the deal.
Given the recent interest in private and permissioned blockchains, Blockstream sought to underscore the versatility of its technology as well as its early efforts to bring added functionality to the bitcoin network through interoperable blockchains.
About: Blockstream was founded to develop new ways to accelerate innovation in crypto currencies, open assets and smart contracts. We’ve come together because we believe in the potential of bitcoin and blockchain technology to have a significant, positive social impact. See company’s fact sheet for even more info on the company.
Source: Coindesk.com/blockstream
