Chainanalysis

Chainalysis Raises $13m From Micky Malka, Ashton Kutcher

Chainalysis has raised an additional $13 million to expand its Series B round to $49M with an investment from Ribbit Capital and Sound Ventures. The funds will allow the blockchain analysis company to grow and deepen its government relationships and further unite the public and private sectors to fuel the cryptocurrency industry’s growth through the addition of software engineers, government sales, and other business roles.

The Series B round follows a $36M raise from Accel, Benchmark, MUFG and Sozo Ventures last year. Chainalysis serves as a strategic partner to financial institutions, governments, and crypto-currency businesses around the world, providing data, software, and expertise on sophisticated cryptocurrency crime and money laundering tactics, techniques, and procedures.

The firm’s government business is being doubled down to propel a flywheel of growth for the industry: when law enforcement and regulators become  comfortable with cryptocurrency, exchanges are able to grow and financial institutions can enter the ecosystem safely and responsibly.

This decision has led Chainalysis to add Sigal Mandelker, General Partner at Ribbit Capital and former Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence at the U.S. Department of the Treasury as an advisor.

The company’s investigative product, Chainalysis Reactor, which provides insights into how and why people move money across the world has seen revenue coming from new government customers growing byalmost 400%.

Michael Gronager, CEO and Co-Founder, Chainalysis, said: “Chainalysis is founded on the belief that providing data insights into cryptocurrency activity will unite government agencies, exchanges, and financial institutions to fuel the industry’s growth. Ribbit Capital’s deep fintech, cryptocurrency, and government experience and Sound Venture’s commitment to creating safer digital environments through enterprise software make them natural partners as we continue our high-growth trajectory and global expansion.”

Micky Malka, the Managing Partner of Ribbit Capital, commented: “Chainalysis is the data platform bet, as crypto-asset adoption increases across the world. We’re convinced that the firm’s technology provides foundational infrastructure for the future of finance. Chainalysis has already seen impressive growth, and the economic opportunity is massive.”

Ashton Kutcher, General Partner, Sound Ventures, added: “Chainalysis’s market-leading position at the intersection of fintech and cybersecurity makes them an essential part of the economy of the future. They are also one of the rare companies whose work protects society’s most vulnerable people, as demonstrated by their work on assisting the shutdown of the largest ever child abuse material site.”

Sigal Mandelker, General Partner at Ribbit Capital, said: “Chainalysis has done terrific work providing blockchain analysis and tools to financial institutions, government agencies, and exchanges, while working to track, analyze, and disrupt illicit activity. As the digital assets industry continues to evolve and grow in positive ways, I’m excited to work with the Chainalysis team to help develop public-private partnerships, enhance ground-breaking technologies in
financial services, and root out illicit networks.”

Chainalysis’ compliance products, Chainalysis KYT (Know Your Transaction) and Chainalysis Kryptos, are now used by over 180 private sector customers across 44 countries.