SoftBank leads latest Blockdaemon funding round

The blockchain infrastructure platform announced it had wrapped up a Series B funding round

Start-up firm Blockdaemon is the latest name in the blockchain sector to earn unicorn status. The blockchain management entity yesterday completed a $155 million fundraising at a valuation of $1.25 billion. The funding round stands at over five times its series A funding, led by Greenspring Associates in June, which netted $28 million. The latest fundraising was led by Vision Fund 2, the venture capital fund of Japan-based multinational conglomerate holding company SoftBank.

Some of the new participants that featured include Sapphire Ventures, Matrix Capital Management and Morgan Creek Digital. Goldman Sachs stood out among existing investors, with others like Boldstart Ventures, Lerer Hippeau, CoinFund, Greenspring Associates, Kenetic, Borderless Capital and Kraken Ventures upping their investments as well.

The blockchain deployment facilitator intends to plough the acquired funds into strategic investments. It will also use some of the funds to increase the size of its workforce in Singapore, Japan, the UK and Germany, according to the announcement.

"Goldman Sachs is very pleased to continue our relationship with and investment in Blockdaemon as they continue to innovate for the financial services industry," noted Oli Harris, who heads the digital assets arm of Goldman Sachs in North America. "We believe Blockdaemon has a key role to play in the future of blockchain and crypto adoption."

Blockdaemon leverages its portable platform to facilitate the management of nodes and payment rails for blockchains. The New York-based firm has witnessed tremendous growth since its establishment in 2017, recording a staggering 70 times surge in valuation in the last year. It currently has support for more than 40 blockchains, including Bitcoin, Cardano, Ethereum, Solana, Polkadot and Terra. More than 10,000 Ethereum 2.0 validators have been rolled out across its network since February.

Blockdaemon founder Konstantin Richter said, "This latest large infusion of capital is another major milestone for Blockdaemon and will ensure that we continue to revitalise existing financial infrastructure around the globe. […] We are deeply gratified to have the support and confidence of the financial, tech, and VC titans who made this latest round possible."

Richter also singled out the support from SoftBank as instrumental at a time when regulations within the space are becoming clear.