Colu Raises $9.6 Million to Promote Blockchain-Based Local Currencies
Tel Aviv-based blockchain startup Colu has raised $9.6m, a fundraising that comes amid a shift in its business model that finds it focusing on local currency issuance. The Series A round, backed by Aleph, Spark Capital, Digital Currency Group and former Thomson Reuters CEO Tom Glocer, follows a $2.5m seed round in early 2015 that came at a time when the startup was focused on building out its underlying technology. While Colu was formerly focused on developing colored coins technology, a top-level protocol on the bitcoin network that allows bitcoins to be augmented to represent other....
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Colu’s updated focus on local digital currency is getting results in the UK as its Local Liverpool Pound (LLP) attracts 3,000 users in a month. Colu: Liverpool Not Like Other Local Currencies. The Israeli startup, which is also set to launch a local currency in East London next month, benefitted from a $9.6 million USD investment round in June 2016. Its entry into the UK local currency arena was marked by the LLP becoming the first to actively utilize the Blockchain to record transactions. In so doing, it is markedly more innovative from coins in other UK towns such as Bristol. “Local....
Liverpool, home of the 1960s English rock band, The Beatles, has become the latest destination to launch its own digital currency. Launched a month ago by Colu, a Tel Aviv-based technology company, the Liverpool Local Pound (LLP) already has over 3,000 users. Colu, which has already issued two digital currencies in Israel, decided to expand to the city in the North West of England after being contacted by Independent Liverpool, an organization that has many small businesses in the city, according to a report from The Telegraph. According to Amos Meiri, CEO of Colu, local currencies are not....
Colu specializes in making assets digital through the use of colored coins and the Bitcoin blockchain. Although the service is still in beta, Colu has already made a partnership with Revelator, a company that is building a rights management API that will help to alleviate many of the problems facing the music industry. I spoke to Mark Smargon, Co-founder and VP of Product, from Colu regarding what Colu is and asked a little bit of how it works: “This API will provide the secure issuance and distribution of digital assets, including listing and registration of musical works for its clients....
Israel-based colored coins startup Colu has launched the beta version of its developer platform. Based on bitcoin's blockchain technology, the platform will enable developers and individuals to register and exchange digital assets. Additionally, Colu announced its integration with Revelator, a music business management platform. Amos Meiri, Colu CEO and co-founder, said in a statement: "The Colu team has been working closely with various companies to finally leverage blockchain technology in a consumer-friendly way. We're excited to launch this beta more broadly so solutions and services....
Colu has recently announced its successful integration into Copay, a popular multisig wallet from Bitpay. The plugin used for Copay will allow the use of colored coins, giving users the ability to issue digital assets for virtually anything. I spoke to Mark Smargon, VP Product & Founder of Colu regarding the new plugin, and what it means for Colu, Coloredcoins, and Copay. Concurrently, ColoredCoins.org is extending an open invite to all developers who wish to be ambassadors, allowing them to be seen as an official face for colored coins in their community.