Blockchain outfit Blockstream has raised $55 million in a Series A funding round led by Horizons Ventures, AXA Strategic Ventures, and Digital Garage.
The round, joined by existing investors AME Cloud Ventures, Blockchain Capital, Future\Perfect Ventures, Khosla Ventures, Mosaic Ventures, and Seven Seas Venture Partners, brings Blockstream's total capital funding to $76 million.
The company is one of many promising to use distributed ledger technology to transform the financial services industry. It's main innovation is 'sidechains' - a blockchain protocol and platform that enable cross-chain functionality by extending Bitcoin to support both public and private blockchains.
The first commercial sidechain offering, called Liquid, launched last year to provide an interchange settlement service for Bitcoin exchanges and brokerages. Blockstream also recently formed a strategic partnership with PwC to bring these capabilities to established industry sectors and companies exploring new blockchain applications.
François Robinet, managing partner, AXA Strategic Ventures, says: "Blockstream has the best technical team in the industry and we strongly believe in their approach of developing foundational infrastructure for various blockchain applications.
"We value Blockstream's open source approach and its sidechain technology, which will allow interoperability between different chains and provide critical long-term success in this sector. We also look forward to partnering with Blockstream to drive the transformation of insurance and asset management businesses."