KPCB Leads $12.5 Million Round for Blockchain Firm Align Commerce
Blockchain payments startup Align Commerce has raised $12.5m in Series A funding led by storied Silicon Valley investment firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers (KPCB). Rounding out the all-star cast of investors were first-time and repeat firms including Digital Currency Group, FS Venture Capital, Pantera Capital, Recruit Ventures Partners and SVB Ventures, the investment arm of Silicon Valley Bank. Founded by Marwan Forzley, a former Western Union general manager, Align Commerce is seeking to disrupt the small business (SMB) cross-border payments market, one it believes is characterized....
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In April, Bitcoin Magazine reported that global payment provider Align Commerce launched a public beta of its payments platform, the first in the industry to use the Bitcoin blockchain transparently to enable faster and cheaper global payments. Transactions appear as traditional payments at both the sending and the receiving end, but Align Commerce pipes the transfer through the blockchain instead of using several intermediate banking relays, halving both time and cost of traditional international wire transfers. Now Align Commerce announced that it has raised a $12.5 million Series A....
Align Commerce, San Francisco-based Blockchain payments processor announced the closure of a Series A funding round on Tuesday, November 17, with $12.5 million led by Kleiner Perkins. This marks the first time Venture Capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers (KPCB) has invested in a Bitcoin startup. Randy Komisar, KPCB general partner and co-founder of Claris Corp., who will also be joining Align’s board said: Align is a cross-border payments startup launched in January 2015 that allows its customers to use both traditional and blockchain financial opportunities for small and....
According to top venture capitalist firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers (KPCB), blockchain technology could soon enjoy tremendous success. This well-established VC firm in the US has been funding technologies in the IT industry and in biotechnology since 1972. So far, KPCB hasn't made any investments in bitcoin or blockchain technology firms but it could do so with its KPCB Edge fund. This seed-stage investment component was introduced last month and has a budget of $4 million. Blockchain Technology Potential. Blockchain is the public ledger of transactions associated with bitcoin. While....
A diverse cast of investors has contributed to the most recent undisclosed seed funding round for blockchain-based, cross-border payments solution provider Align Commerce. Participants included more familiar names such as entrepreneur Barry Silbert's Bitcoin Opportunity Corp, Adam Draper-led Boost VC and hedge fund Pantera Capital. The round also included traditionally payments-focused VC firms such as Bayhill Capital Management, NyCa Investment, Pivot Holding, Fenway Summer, R3 and the Whittemore Collection. Unsurprisingly, not all participants are new to the ecosystem. Fenway Summer, for....
KPCB Edge has gone public with Edgecoin, a private blockchain project the investment firm will use to reward startup founders who help both KPCB and other portfolio members. With the formal launch, the early-stage investment firm, launched in June, will provide all its investors with an Edgecoin web wallet containing 10 edgecoins. As a first use case, founders who identify other entrepreneurs who they believe KPCB should invest in are able to spend their edgecoins as a way to signal their trust in that individual or team. KPCB Edge indicates that, following the transaction, it will set up....