Flowdesk, the Paris-based crypto marketplace creator, has raised $50 million in a Series B funding round led by Cathay Innovation, a venture capital firm affiliated with Cathay Capital.
The round featured participation from Cathay Ledger Fund, a €100 million ($110 million) investment fund for early-stage Web3 companies created by crypto wallet maker Ledger and Cathay Innovation; as well as several French investment companies, including Eurazeo, ISAI and BPI.
Vienna-based early-stage investor Speedinvest and cryptocurrency company Ripple also joined the round, according to a statement on Thursday.
With the new funding, Flowdesk plans to apply for licenses in Singapore and the United States in a bid to expand its "regulatory coverage." Meanwhile, the company also plans to expand its over-the-counter (OTC) offering, among others.
Flowdesk, which has recently been named as one of the liquidity providers for Grayscale Investments' bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF), is looking to capitalize on the landmark decision by the US Securities and Exchange Commission. green light the first US-listed ETFs to track bitcoin.
The move heralds a new era for bitcoin, the world's largest digital asset that allows institutional and retail investors to take advantage of the asset without purchasing it directly.
In addition to Grayscale Investments, Flowdesk also served as a liquidity provider for the Societe Generale stablecoin – FORGE (SG-FORGE), a subsidiary of European bank Societe Generale.
2023 was a year that saw the price of Bitcoin soar more than 160% in 2023, while the price of ether rose 95% during the same period. Despite the price rally, crypto venture capital funding remained dismal in 2023, with the industry seeing just a third of the VC investments recorded in 2022, according to a report released by the firm's research arm. Galaxy Digital crypto investment platform.
