Crypto financial services company Ledn raised $ 2.7 million in a seed expansion round.
The round was led by White Star’s Digital Asset Fund, with the participation of Coinbase Ventures, Darrow Holdings (a subsidiary of Susquehanna International Group), CMT Digital and others.
With fresh capital, Ledn has announced that it will expand its range of services and increase its international presence. In a statement to The Block, CEO Adam Reeds highlighted Africa as a notable growth market for the startup.
“We are particularly excited about the adoption that we are seeing in Africa,” said Reeds. “Therefore we intend to use our additional resources to penetrate deeper into growth markets that can really benefit from the properties of Bitcoin as a savings balance.”
Ledn, founded in 2018 and based in Canada, offers Bitcoin savings accounts and Bitcoin-covered loans, among other things. Reeds said Ledn was already profitable but needed the capital to “double our growth”.
Ledn has “thousands of active customers,” co-founder Mauricio Di Bartolomeo told The Block, adding that the top five markets by sales are Colombia, Mexico, Argentina, Canada and the United States
Extension of the scope
The startup is preparing to launch a new, toll-free crypto trading service in Colombia next week, according to Bartolomeo. “From there we will enable the trading functions market by market,” he added.
This is an “incremental” service and not at the core of Ledn’s profitability, Reeds told The Block. “It’s just important to enable our customers to do more with their Bitcoin in one place. Customers can trade directly from our savings accounts so they can earn interest while not trading. Ledn will earn a small spread by offering a time-based price guarantee. “
As part of its expansion plans, Ledn plans to more than double its workforce from 12 to 30 by June, Reeds told The Block. He added that the company is hiring in tech, legal, compliance, marketing and finance.
The seed expansion round brings Ledn’s total funding to $ 3.8 million, Reeds said. The company previously raised an undisclosed amount of debt to fund its Bitcoin-backed loan portfolio.
“Ledn borrows from institutional partners to fund its Bitcoin-backed loans (no debt is taken out to run the company – we are fully funded by equity and existing cash flows),” Reeds said. “We haven’t announced the size of our Bitcoin-backed loan portfolio yet, but we will be sharing exciting news about our growth shortly.”
Looking ahead, Ledn plans to raise between $ 10 million and $ 20 million in a Series A funding round later this year, according to Reeds.
© 2021 The Block Crypto, Inc. All rights reserved. This article is for informational purposes only. It is not offered or used as legal, tax, investment, financial or other advice.
Comments are closed.