German cryptocurrency startup Bitwala raises €13 million in Series A funding
Summary
Bitwala, a Berlin-based provider of crypto banking services, has raised €13 million in Series A funding from a group of international investors in a round led by Sony Financial Ventures/Global Brain and NKB Group. Founded in 2015, Bitwala says it is currently the only provider of a banking service that comes with a free current account + a built-in Bitcoin wallet as well as trading options for the cryptocurrency, courtesy of a partnership with Germany’s solarisBank. The cash injection should allow the startup to attract new customers – it says already boasts retail customers in all 31 countries of the European Economic Area despite having launched its service only at the end of last year – as well as new talent, and to start offering Bitcoin accounts for businesses. When we started in 2015, we were three founders and a dog: I never dared to imagine for Bitwala to grow into such a thriving business with so many talented people and thousands of customers across Europe,” said Bitwala’s co-founder and CTO, Ben Jones. While there is still huge upside potential, it has already been a humbling experience to see the ecosystem grow and for Bitwala to play such an important part in that.”