Draper Esprit puts £18m into blockchain firm Ledger

Technology-focussed venture capital firm Draper Esprit announced an £18m investment in Ledger, the Paris headquartered cryptocurrency and blockchain security company, on Thursday.

The AIM-traded firm said the investment would enable Ledger to “significantly” scale up its operations as demand for its products increases at pace.

It said the £56m round, which was oversubscribed, was led by Draper Esprit, with additional funding from Draper Venture Network funds including Draper Associates, Draper Dragon and Boost VC, as well as FirstMark Capital, Cathay Capital, and Korelya Capital.

The round was the largest venture capital series B investment into blockchain and cryptocurrency related technologies to date, excluding ICOs.

Existing investors, CapHorn Invest, GDTRE and Digital Currency Group, also participated in the round.

As cryptocurrency participation had increased, so have associated security challenges, the Draper Esprit board noted.

Cryptocurrency investors faced a “nascent landscape” of exchanges, brokers and wallet providers, and in that context there were “substantial” opportunities to improve security and trust for participants.

Ledger was founded in 2014 by a team of eight entrepreneurs, who reportedly saw the potential for blockchain technology to advance the way people live and that security would be the cornerstone of long term success.

The company had been growing strongly since then, and now employed 82 people in San Francisco, Paris and Vierzon.

Ledger, which was already profitable, has sold over a million of cryptocurrency hardware wallets to customers in 165 countries.

They were also launching a new financial institutions solution - the Ledger Vault - enabling hedge funds, banks and family offices to manage their crypto assets.

All of its products were underpinned by a unique operating system specifically designed to run on any secure hardware and to support any cryptocurrency.

Draper Esprit said the OS enabled security for wider blockchain applications, and would eventually accelerate adoption in a wide variety of industries, from the internet of things to driverless cars.

“Blockchain, as evidenced by crypto assets, is a truly revolutionary technology,” said Draper Esprit CEO Simon Cook.

“Security will be paramount to its success and we believe that Ledger has built the world's best security platform to manage private keys for all blockchain and crypto asset applications.

“This is a global company for a global industry and we have built an international syndicate through the Draper Network to support the team in their huge ambition.”

Eric Larchevêque, CEO at Ledger, added that they initially designed their Ledger hardware wallet as an enabler for the so-called blockchain revolution.

“Three years later and with this series B, we are reaching a significant milestone in our path to build a technological giant in the promising space of cryptocurrencies,” he explained.

“These funds will be used to keep investing significantly in R&D while scaling our operations and deploying our teams globally.

“I am delighted to bring on board Draper Esprit and a truly global group of investors who will support the company as it grows rapidly.”