Former Softbank spinoff plugs $23m into crypto startup Elliptic
Elliptic, which provides crypto-asset risk management solutions for crypto businesses and financial institutions, has today secured $23m in investment from Tokyo giant SBI Group.
Albion VC also joined the round, alongside existing investors Signalfire, Octopus Ventures and Santander’s venture capital arm.
SBI Group was formerly part of Japanese mega investor Softbank, before fully separating from the company in 2006. Elliptic said it will use the funding to expand into Asia, opening new offices in Japan and Singapore.
It will also further develop its technology to address growing regulatory demands and support emerging cryptocurrencies, such as Facebook’s Libra and those being developed by central banks.
“We believe it no longer makes sense to think of a divide between the crypto economy and the wider financial system. Cryptoassets represent new opportunities for financial institutions, and as they move towards addressing these, we are here to support them,” said co-founder and chief executive James Smith.
“This new investment will allow us to double down on our mission to enable the crypto industry to grow and take shape. We are delighted and extremely proud to have the backing of SBI Group, who will play a key role in our expansion to Asia and will support our teams in Singapore and Japan.”
Elliptic said its revenue in Asia had increased by more than 11 times in the last two years alone, thanks in part due to the increased attention on cryptoassets.
Yoshitaka Kitao, chief executive of SBI Group, said: “We believe that cryptoassets will play an increasingly important role in our everyday lives and are shaping the future of banking.
“Our investment in Elliptic is a further commitment to this belief and to SBI’s appetite to help build the digital asset-related ecosystem.”