London-based blockchain startup Elliptic raises $60M to accelerate safe adoption of crypto assets

As cryptocurrency gains mainstream adoption and popularity, the level of illicit activities and risks have also intensified as hackers and cybercriminals stole millions of dollars from investors and financial institutions. But one startup is on a mission to reverse this trend and stopping cybercriminals from undermining the ideals on which cryptocurrencies are built.

Enter Elliptic,  a London, England-based startup that makes cryptocurrency transaction activity more transparent and accountable. Elliptic is disrupting illicit activity in cryptocurrencies and helping to manage cryptocurrency risks and accelerate the safe adoption of crypto assets by mainstream financial markets.

We wrote about Elliptic early last year after the blockchain analytics startup raised $23 million Series B funding to invest in its discovery product and help accelerate global expansion, with a particular focus on Asia.

Today, Elliptic announced it has raised $60 million in Series C funding led by Evolution Equity Partners, alongside new investment from SoftBank Vision Fund 2. Existing investors AlbionVC, Digital Currency Group, Wells Fargo Strategic Capital, SBI Group, Octopus Ventures, SignalFire, and Paladin Capital Group also participated.

Elliptic will use the fresh capital infusion for research and development, investment in its global network, and expansion of Elliptic’s team. The company will also use the fund to accelerate its efforts in enabling financial markets participants to embrace the crypto opportunity with trust and confidence.

In conjunction with the funding, Elliptic announced that Richard Seewald, Founder and Managing Partner at Evolution Equity Partners will join its Board of Directors to provide strategic, proven leadership building global software companies.

Founded in 2013 by Adam Joyce, James Smith, and Tom Robinson, Elliptic protects businesses against financial crime in cryptocurrency and helps banks manage the risks associated with being exposed to cryptocurrencies. Elliptic is disrupting illicit activity in cryptocurrencies and stopping criminals from undermining the ideals on which cryptocurrencies are built. Elliptic identifies illicit activity in cryptocurrencies, providing actionable intelligence to cryptocurrency companies, financial institutions, and government agencies.

Today, two-thirds of crypto volume worldwide is transacted on exchanges that use Elliptic; these businesses rely on Elliptic’s solutions to manage risk and generate insights by leveraging over 20 billion data points covering 98% of all crypto assets by market cap. The company serves traditional financial institutions, fintechs, crypto businesses, and government agencies with the leading suite of compliance and investigative solutions built specifically for crypto assets.

Simone Maini, CEO of Elliptic, said: “At Elliptic, we help financial institutions, from crypto exchanges to the world’s leading banks, embrace crypto assets more safely. This fundraising round is an endorsement of the opportunity for crypto assets in the financial industry – and our absolutely critical role in the ecosystem.”

Since founded seven years ago, Elliptic has been increasingly working with financial institutions to get them on board with its so-called Discovery platform, which helps banks identify whether clients’ funds are passing through cryptocurrency platforms without the appropriate compliance checks in place.

Financial institutions and cryptocurrency companies rely on Elliptic’s blockchain analytics to manage risk and meet regulatory compliance worldwide. The London-based firm has become known for its analysis tools, which it sells to some of the world’s largest cryptocurrency platforms — including Binance and Circle — to help them find and block illicit digital currency transactions.