Ripple, a distributed ledger technology provider, has announced the completion of a $55 million Series B financing round, which drew support from new investors including Standard Chartered, Accenture Ventures, SCB Digital Ventures, the venture arm of Siam Commercial Bank, and SBI Holdings, along with additional investors namely Santander Innoventures, the venture arms of CME Group and Seagate Technology, and Venture 51.

The addition of notable strategic investors in this round, particularly banks who are backing Ripple following hands-on experience with its solutions, provides the company with new counsel and expertise to better serve its growing customer base. Ripple intends to use the funds to accelerate its rapid customer growth, pursue strategic partnerships and grow the team internationally.

“Our mission is to make cross-border payments truly efficient for banks and their customers, and in doing so, lay the foundation for an Internet of Value where the world moves money as easily as information,” said Ripple CEO & co-founder Chris Larsen, “We’re thrilled to have these world-class investors joining forces with us to help make this vision a reality.”

Existing Ripple investors include GV (Google Ventures), Andreessen Horowitz, IDG Capital Partners, and Jerry Yang’s AME Cloud Ventures. Ripple has received a total of over $93 million in funding.

As the only provider of enterprise blockchain solutions, Ripple’s network includes 15 of the top 50 global banks, 10 banks in commercial deal phases and over 30 bank pilots completed, among many others also using Ripple’s solutions.

New Banks Join Ripple’s Growing Network

Besides series B round, Ripple also announced the addition of several more financial institutions to its growing network, which includes Standard Chartered, National Australia Bank (NAB), Mizuho Financial Group (MHFG), BMO Financial Group, Siam Commercial Bank and Shanghai Huarui Bank. These leading global banks that have adopted Ripple’s settlement technology to improve their cross-border payments and offer their customers improved service.

In June, Ripple announced the addition of seven new financial institutions as its technology partners. The company said that it is continuing to build on its already extensive network of customers.

“2016 has proven to be the year where the most forward-thinking financial institutions are actually using blockchain technologies for payments and settlement rather than as an experiment,” said Larsen. “The continued growth of the Ripple network represents a major endorsement of our open approach to connecting the world’s banks and their customers, and together we are building a modern payments system to enable new economic opportunities and the seamless flow of value around the world.”

The news follows SBI Ripple Asia’s recent announcement on the creation of a Japanese consortium of 15 banks that will use Ripple’s technology for payments and settlement. According to SBI Ripple Asia, the 15 inaugural members will increase the size of the consortium to 30 banks and the new service will go live in spring of 2017.