Elliptic Raises $23 Million As Startup Aims To Enter Asian Market

Cryptocurrencies are associated with several risks that come about as a result of the nature of these assets.

These digital assets have properties that make them easy to use in criminal enterprises such as money laundering and fraud. Coming up with solutions for these challenges is vital for the growth of the crypto sector as a whole.

Elliptic, a startup based in the UK, is looking to grow its crypto risk management business by developing and selling tech and services that protect others from the dangers of cryptocurrency.

The firm has developed many products that are available for financial institutions and crypto related businesses.

The UK company is now looking to expand their business to Asia, and they have plans to open offices in Singapore and Japan. Elliptic says that their client base in Asia has grown 11 times over the past two years, and hence, they are targeting the region.

Series B round of investments

Following a successful Series B round on investment, Elliptic may have the capital it needs to fund its move into the Asian market. The startup raised $23 million in its latest round of investment fundraising.

SBI Group, a financial services and asset management firm from Tokyo, led the round of investments. AlbionVC, a London based firm, came on board and joined Elliptic’s list of investors.

Some of the startup’s old investors such as Octopus Ventures, SignalFire, and Santander Innoventures participated in the Series B round of investments.

Tomoyuki Nii from SBI group and Ed Lascelles from AlbionVC joined Elliptic’s board as a result of their companies’ participation in the round of investments.

Elliptic’s products

Elliptic was founded in 2013, and they entered the market with a crypto storage product.

The startup went on to develop technology that allows financial institutions to screen transactions and identify those that show suspicious patterns or that have come from shady individuals.

This technology would bring new levels of security to online crypto trading and encourage more traders to engage with the assets on the markets.

Currently, the company has a range of products that help crypto related business and financial institutions that interact with these digital assets to screen crypto transactions worth billions of dollars daily.

The technology can identify transactions that may be linked to criminal enterprises such as terrorist financing, human trafficking, money laundering, and other financial crime.

The tools built by Elliptic are vital in the creation of secure and compliant crypto industry.

The technology has mainly been available to the private sector entities that deal with crypto forensics, compliance of crypto assets with anti-money laundering regulations and those that investigate possible criminal activity associated with these assets. Elliptic has also sold its services to some law enforcement agencies.

Growth of the startup

A few years ago, Elliptic had less than 20 blockchain-based companies on board, but now, it has over a hundred firms in the industry making use of its services.

These companies and financial institutions are concerned about the risk that comes with cryptocurrency, and they aim to reduce the amount of financial crime committed using digital assets.

James Smith, CEO, and co-founder of Elliptic said that the startup has been focused on developing its products and putting together the right team.

The latest round of funding will assist the firm as it aims to expand its business by enabling it to enter the Asian market without disrupting their focus on the EMEA and the US.