Circle, a blockchain-based startup company headquartered in Ireland, has raised $60 million in latest funding round, drawing support from a syndicate of major Chinese strategic investors.
The strategic financing round was led by existing investment partner IDG Capital Partners, the prolific Beijing-based VC firm, and included support from Breyer Capital, a premier global venture capital and private equity firm, leading Chinese search engine Baidu and others. In addition, Sam Palmisano, former Chairman and CEO of IBM, and Glenn Hutchins, the co-founder of SilverLake and legendary private equity investor, have also made significant investment in Circle.
“These strategic partners are betting on Circle’s goal of creating an open, global model for social payments that enables consumers in China, the US and Europe to exchange value the same way we share content and communicate”, the official announcement reads. “We are thrilled to have these companies as partners in our global endeavors, and in our nascent expansion into China itself.”
In addition, Circle also shared some details about a new company established about six months ago – Circle China – a Beijing-based company focused on bringing the benefit of open, global, blockchain-powered social payments to Chinese consumers.
“While we are not yet offering a commercial product and service in China, we are committed to the development of a China-native company, with major Chinese owners and investors in both Circle China and Circle Global”, Circle said, adding that it wants to ensure that its products are in compliance with the laws and regulations of the Chinese payments and banking regime.
Moreover, the company revealed plans to soon open Circle Euro support to consumers in Spain as the first part of a broader European-wide rollout to come over the coming month. It added that it is currently working with the regulators in this regard. The announcement follows the launch of the Circle service in the UK with native support for Pound Sterling.
““Lighting up Euro” on Circle’s platform is critical in our effort to enable consumers everywhere to share value, and is also important to our efforts in China”, Circle said.
