CME Group has participated in a $30 million funding round for self-destructing messaging app developer Wickr, as the startup bids to move into financial services.
The $30 million round comes three months after the firm closed on over $9 million in Series A investment, and has been spurred by the potential uses of the app for financial services and in wargaming.
Unlike popular consumer competitor SnapChat, Wickr users own their pictures and conversations, decide who sees them for how long and are the only ones with the key.
Note the use of the Mission Impossible theme tune in the following video ad, playing on the TV series' well-worn catchphrase 'This is you mission, should you choose to accept it...This tape will self-destruct in five seconds."
With the new funding under its belt, Wickr has recruited Andrew Caspersen, former chief security officer and chief privacy officer of Schwab, to lead a new financial services division that will be headquartered in Chicago.
Wickr was the first investment made by CME Group's recently established Liquidity Ventures early-stage startup fund back in March, and the Exchange has further raised its stake in the current round.
Mark Fields, LV managing director says: "Wickr was our first investment because it fit our investment criteria, priorities, and vision about technologies that will impact our business and the ecosystem within which we exist over the long term."