BitFury, a crypto mining company, has announced the closing of a private placement investment of $80 million, bringing the total funds raised by the firm to $170 million since its Series A round in 2014.
The round, according to an official press release, was led by a Paris-based venture capital firm Korelya Capital. Mike Novogratz’s Galaxy Digital, Macquarie Capital, Dentsu Inc., Armat Group and others also participated in the Series C funding round for the San Francisco crypto company.
Greg Revenu, Managing Partner of Bryan, Garnier & Co, a Europe-based investment bank, which is also the Sole Financial Advisor and Placement Agent for the BitFury’s funding, stressed that the latest investment marks the “global institutionalization” of the blockchain industry.
“As the market is maturing, we are witnessing an acceleration in the adoption of blockchain technologies throughout the world, in all domains, at both corporate and governmental level,” he explained. “This transaction also demonstrates the positioning of the company as the world leading B2B technology infrastructure provider, with a breadth of activities that enable the company to be seen as the proxy for a global Blockchain investment thesis.”
BitFury Group currently employs over 700 employees in 15 countries spread across North America, EMEA, and Asia. The company also operates crypto mining centers in Iceland, Canada, Georgia, and Norway, offering hash powers to some of the world’s top mining pools. Nevertheless, BitFury is best known for building crypto mining equipment and has just launched a new “Clarke” ASIC chip for bitcoin mining.
The company has also ventured into developing blockchain applications for corporates and governments and has recorded a half billion dollars in revenues through its overall operations.
Expansion into AI
BitFury said that it wants to allocate the raised $80 million fund to further its global expansion and to enter adjacent market segments – such as Artificial Intelligence (AI). However, the company didn’t reveal any major details about the kind of projects it would place under its new AI wings.
“The institutionalization of blockchain and cryptocurrencies, partnered with the opportunity of these emerging technologies, is a natural expansion opportunity that Bitfury will build on — in 2019 and beyond,” said Valery Vavilov, CEO, and co-founder of Bitfury, while referring to AI.
The funding round also comes right after Bitfury announced its plans to launch an initial public offering round with an aim to generate $3 billion in public funding. The company’s biggest rival Bitmain has already filed its IPO application in Hong Kong, albeit amidst criticism.
Featured image from Shutterstock.
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