International blockchain-based payment provider has closed Series D investment round, proved one of the most successful in bitcoin industry. Chinese companies are among the top contributors.
“We want to enable Chinese consumers to share value with anyone in the U.S., with anyone in Europe, and, through the blockchain, with anyone in the world instantly, globally, without fees, and with a high level of security,” said Jeremy Allaire, CEO of Circle. “We’re going to work with our strategic partners and relevant government authorities to bring the benefits of Circle’s blockchain-powered social payment app to Chinese consumers in the coming years.”
The investors that contributed $60 million include Breyer Capital and IDG Capital Partners venture companies, CICC Alpha corporation, Fenbushi Capital venture foundation, specialising in blockchain startups, Everbright Investments and Creditease Fintech investment foundations (the latter is the largest p2p lending company in the world) and Baidu, the top Chinese search engine.
Individual strategic investors include Sam Palmisano, former CEO and Chairman of IMB, and Glenn Hutchins, the co-founder of SilverLake private equity firm.
“Just like the success of Alipay and WeChat pay here in China, we have full confidence in the Circle team building global products which will be enjoyed by hundreds of millions of people daily”, said Hugo Shong, Founding General Partner at IDG Capital.
Circle also announced it has established a Chinese subsidiary, Circle China, half a year ago.
“Circle China is a separate company — a Chinese company with Chinese investors, and we want that to grow independently and have a relationship with Circle Global for the benefits we bring from technology or from connecting to consumers in the US and Europe,” states Allaire.
Circle believes that the service might be popular, for instance, among Chinese students who go abroad to study. In 2015, they are going to be more than half a million.
“A lot of Chinese students, when they graduate, work in other countries under work visas, and they have friends and family they interact with at home, or they have family sending them money for school, tuition payments, plus they interact with their friends and family colleagues in the West,” explains Allaire.
Circle believes that its total amount of transactions will exceed $1 billion this year.
In spring 2015, Circle raised $50 million in a seed round. Among the investors were Goldman Sachs, Breyer Capital, General Catalyst Partners, Accel Partners, Oak Investment Partners, Fenway Summer, Digital Currency Group and Pantera Capital.
The service allows users to make instant and free cross-border transactions in national currencies. The recipients may receive the money in their national currency while bitcoin is used as a medium of transaction.
Elena Platonova
