Ledger Raises $380M In Funding Round, Hits Unicorn Status As Now Valued At $1.5 Billion

Crypto hardware wallet maker Ledger has closed a $380 million funding round shooting the startup to a valuation of more than $1.5 billion.

The funding was led by the digital assets fund, 10T Fund, alongside other notable investors including Tekne Capital, Felix Capital, Uphold Ventures, Inherent, Financière Agache (Groupe Arnault), and iAngels Technologies.

Ledger To Diversify Digital Asset Offerings With New Funding

Ledger CEO Pascal Gauthier said that the new investment would enable the firm to transition from a leading digital asset security company to a secure gateway into the entire digital asset ecosystem.

Ledger would use the funds to develop new products and add decentralized finance solutions to Ledger Live, Gauthier added.

Ledger is also planning to expand and upgrade the capabilities of its enterprise arm, Ledger Enterprise Solutions, a cloud-based digital asset custody service.

As cryptocurrencies are becoming more mainstream, Ledger expects that the assets held on its products will grow in volume, according to the announcement.

Ledger also disclosed in its announcement that it plans to diversify into nonfungible tokens (NFTs), real estate, and other blockchain-based forms of value. Ledger stated,

“We also expect to see the ecosystem diversify beyond cryptocurrencies to include NFTs, real estate, and other forms of value that can shift onto the blockchain.”

The firm said its goal is to empower users to buy, sell, swap, borrow, and lend digital assets through the Ledger Live platform, combined with the hardware which offers best-in-class security.

Ledger's new funding round comes three years after it conducted its Series B round, raising $75 million. The funding round held in January 2018 was led by Draper Esprit, a London-based venture capital firm.

It also raised an additional $2.9 million from the technology firm Samsung in April 2019. Before this, Ledger had closed $7 million in its Series A round in March 2017.

Founded in 2014, Ledger offers a range of hardware wallets for storing cryptocurrency private keys. It currently has about 360 employees, with plans to hire another 300.

The Ledger-Live platform, which launched in 2020, allows users to trade, swap, and lend all on one secure platform. It currently has more than 1.5 million monthly users on the platform.

Ledger's Rapid Growth in 2021

Ledger has become one of the world's most popular manufacturers of hardware wallets. The firm said it secures an estimated 15% of all cryptocurrencies globally, having sold more than 3 million hardware wallets in 190 countries.

Last month, Ledger reported a revenue increase of over 500% from its first-quarter sales between January to March. Although no actual figures were given, Ledger said it was very profitable during the quarter.

The crypto wallet provider also partnered with Samsung to offer Galaxy smartphone customers a way to connect their phones to Ledger storage devices. The tech firm announced that Galaxy smartphones would support Ledger Nano hardware storage devices designed specifically for the safekeeping of cryptocurrency.