Elliptic Raises $23M For Asian Expansion

Elliptic, a British company providing crypto-asset risk management solutions, announced today a successful raise of $23M in a Series B funding round, led by Tokyo-based SBI Holdings. AlbionVC and existing investors such as SignalFire, Octopus Ventures and Santander Innoventures have also contributed to the round. Tomoyuki Nii from SBI Holdings will be joining the Board of Directors, along with Ed Lascelles of AlbionVC.

Elliptic specializes in analyzing blockchain transaction data to scour for any irregularities: money laundering, terrorist financing and other financial crimes. Its suite of analysis tools has been used by over 100 crypto businesses and institutions to manage their financial crime risk, stopping them from inadvertently facilitating illicit transactions.

The investment will be used to turbocharge Elliptic’s expansion into Asia, opening offices in Japan and Singapore. The company’s revenue from Asia has increased elevenfold over the last two years, making it an attractive target for focused expansion. Elliptic will also use the funding to enable support for the emerging class of asset-backed crypto-assets, such as Facebook’s Libra and Line’s LINK, as well as central bank digital currencies.

The company believes crypto has entered a new stage, with Elliptic CEO Dr. James Smith noting that “(…) it no longer makes sense to think of a divide between the crypto economy and the wider financial system.” 

With many businesses and financial institutions entering the market, they need a way to ensure compliance. “Crypto-assets represent new opportunities for financial institutions, and as they move towards addressing these, we are here to support them,” he continued. “Elliptic’s work to enable trust, transparency, and accountability within the industry has played a critical role in the push beyond cryptocurrency’s experimental phase.”

Previously, Elliptic published a set of categorized Bitcoin transactions to provide training data for competitors, while showcasing its AI-powered detection algorithms.

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