Swiss digital asset banking firm Sygnum has achieved unicorn status on a $58 million funding round.
Final close cornerstone investor Fulgur Ventures, a bitcoin-focused venture capital firm, is joined by new and existing strategic and financial investors, as well as Sygnum team members.
The new funding follows a $40 million raise in January last year at a valuation of up to $900 million, a $100 million uplift from its $90 million Series B in October 2022.
The latest funding round comes on the back of Sygnum's first profitable year in FY 2024, as it continued to grow its 2,000-strong institutional client base domiciled in over 70 countries, holding $5 billion in client assets.
Total annual trades across the Sygnum platform in 2024 increased by more than 1,000% YoY, propelled by PostFinance and the 20+ banks on its B2B platform providing regulated crypto services to more than a third of the Swiss population.
In July 2024, Sygnum launched Sygnum Connect, a 24/7 multi-asset settlement network, with members at launch including digital asset exchange AsiaNext and prime broker Hidden Road. A few months earlier, Sygnum also opened up a second new platform, Sygnum Protect, a collateral shielding product for institutional crypto investors.
Mathias Imbach, Sygnum co-founder and group CEO, comments: “Sygnum reaching Unicorn status is a strong validation by the market of our business model, strategy and team. As Switzerland is currently losing ground to other jurisdictions as a preferred digital asset hub, it is also our obligation to highlight the need for Switzerland to not ignore the importance of continuous innovation in the financial sector and to continue to attract talent and capital to remain relevant in the long-term. In that way, Sygnum’s mission is only at the very beginning.”
He says the firm will use the proceeds from the raise to drive multi-region market entry across the EU and Hong Kong, to expand the product portfolio with a focus on bitcoin-technology, and for M&A activity.