Blockchain start-up Ripple has gained a hefty $10bn valuation, following a $200m funding round led by New York investment company Tetragon.
The San Francisco-based firm founded seven years ago said it will use the cash to develop its platforms and hire more engineers.
It added that private equity firms SBI Holdings and Route 66 Ventures also took part in the Series C funding.
Ripple helped create XRP cryptocurrency, which is the world’s third most used digital asset, behind Bitcoin and Ethereum, respectively.
‘Strong financial position’
It is also behind a blockchain messaging system used by more than 300 banks and financial institutions around the world, including American Express, Santander and MoneyGram.
Ripple chief executive Brad Garlinghouse (pictured) said: “We are in a strong financial position to execute against our vision. As others in the blockchain space have slowed their growth or even shut down, we have accelerated our momentum and industry leadership throughout 2019.”
Digital currencies are notoriously volatile, and in January 2018 the value of XRP lifted to more than $3. However, XRP is currently at around 19 cents, though it lifted more than three per cent in morning trading today following Ripple’s funding announcement.
Ripple said it will use the cash to continue to develop its Xpring platform, which has a range of tools and services, making it easier to send and receive payments in any currency, across any network, using the XRP Ledger and Interledger Protocol.
Talent search
It added it would hire “new global talent to meet market demands and better serve its growing community of customers and partners”.
The start-up, founded in 2012, currently employs more than 350 staff in six offices around the world.
The business said it has clients in more than 45 countries and six continents, with payment capabilities in over 70 countries.
