Israeli cryptocurrency security company Fireblocks announced today the completion of a $550 million financing round, at a company valuation of $8 billion. The company’s valuation has nearly quadrupled since it raised $310m. at a company valuation of $2.2b. last June, while in March 2021 it was only valued at $700m. The imminent completion of this financing round was reported by “Globes” in December, based on a report on “The Information” website.
This financing round makes Fireblocks one of Israel’s most valuable privately held start-up tech companies — only fintech companies Rapyd and Tipalti and cybersecurity company Snyk have raised money at a valuation of over $8b.
Fireblocks CEO Michael Shaulov said that “less than 20%” of the money raised would be as part of a secondary deal with existing shareholders selling stakes, and most of the money would go into the company’s coffers for investment in developing the company.
Fireblocks, which was founded in 2018, helps banks and financial institutions set up independent activities for storing and transferring cryptocurrencies.
Shaulov said, “The adoption of cryptocurrencies across the financial and commercial sectors is going to accelerate in 2022, and Fireblocks’ mission is to be a strategic partner for these new market entrants. The new round of financing will accelerate our ability to support our clients globally, as well as heavily invest in innovation for DeFi, NFTs and payments, and allow new and established financial institutions to employ direct custody rather than relying on third parties, which will increase their competitive advantage.”
Fireblocks serves over 800 large institutional customers and according to Shaulov the company’s annual recurring revenue was in the $50m. to $100m. range in the past year.
He said, “You have to take into account that we grew 600% over the past year and that our 2020 revenue was less than $10m. in ARR terms. This year our target is to grow 300%.”
Shaulov does not see Fireblock conducting an IPO over the next year.
The round was co-led by D1 Capital Partners and Spark Capital with participation from General Atlantic, Index Ventures, Mammoth, CapitalG (Alphabet’s independent growth fund), Altimeter, Iconiq Strategic Partners, Canapi Ventures, and Parafi Growth Fund as well as existing investors such as Sequoia Capital, Coatue, Ribbit, Bank of New York Mellon, Paradigm, DRW Venture Capital, Tenaya Capital and SCB10x.