Early stage investment house IDG Capital has made its latest foray into cryptocurrency platforms by backing Liquid.com at a valuation of more than $1bn.
The first close of an ongoing Series C round also picked up backing from the world’s largest maker of cryptocurrency mining rigs, Bitmain Technologies.
This valuation establishes five-year-old Liquid as one of only two tech unicorns in Japan’s startup space, joining AI learning business Preferred Networks.
Liquid previously raised more than $20m from backers including JAFCO, SBI, B Dash Ventures, Mistletoe, and ULS Group.
Two years ago Liquid also raised more than $100m in a pre-discounted ICO raise, which was the first regulated ICO to be done in Japan.
IDG’s Liquid investment adds to its current portfolio of crypto investments, which include Coinbase, Ripple, Bitmain and Kakao’s crypto unit.
Proceeds from the ongoing Series C funding will be used to fuel global expansion, product development of the core trading exchange business and entering into the security token market.
Liquid CEO Mike Kayamori said, “As we enter into a new age of digital disruption in financial services, consumers are increasingly placing a higher value on digital assets and technologies they can trust and use with greater ease.
“Our vision is to make financial services accessible to all, which means bringing more people into the digital asset space so that anyone can be a part of it.”
IDG general partner Young Guo added, “IDG has been actively investing in the global crypto space since 2012, identifying some key players early.
“We came to realize that Tokyo has emerged as a top destination for crypto innovation and it is our honor to back such visionary pioneers as Liquid co-founders Mike Kayamori and Mario Gomez Lozada to carry out this innovation.”
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