07 May 2014 / Wall Street Journal – Investors are still bullish on bitcoin, with Battery Ventures, Tim Draper, Steve Case and other individuals seeding Vaurum with $4 million.
The support comes the day after the Future Capital Bitcoin Fund launched and a week after Bloomberg announced it would list bitcoin prices on its terminals–a move many believe could increase volume and decrease volatility of the cryptocurrency.
For Vaurum, which is one of more than a dozen startups in the sector to score venture funding during the past year, the round will enable it to scale its engineering team and continue building its platform.
Unlike retail exchanges BTC China, itBit Pte. Ltd. and Buttercoin Inc.–which have also all raised venture backing–Vaurum is building white label software that allows financial institutions to host their own bitcoin exchanges.
Founded in 2012 and based in Palo Alto, Calif., Vaurum said it licenses its technology to broker-dealers, hedge funds and others. The company did not disclose customer names.
For Battery Ventures, which is investing from a $900 million pool of capital, Vaurum is the first bitcoin startup it’s backed.
Along with traditional venture firms placing bets on bitcoin startups, a handful of bitcoin-focused firms and funds including Pantera Capital, Bit Angels, Boost Bitcoin Fund and Bitcoin Opportunity Fund have emerged during the past year.
Melbourne-based Future Capital Bitcoin Fund announced Tuesday it had secured approval from the Australian government to raise a $30 million fund to back bitcoin related startups. It has not yet made any investments.
