Blockchain consortium R3 raises USD 107 million

The funds are expected to be deployed as part of plans for global technological development and, eventually, a push to bring Corda Enterprise, R3’s distributed ledger model, to institutions around the world.

Over 40 financial institutions participated in the funding round, including top member investors SBI Group, Bank of America Merrill Lynch and HSBC. Nevertheless, the round did include two strategic investors that are not members of R3: Intel and Temasek Holdings. Additional major investors include ING, Banco Bradesco, Itaú Unibanco, Natixis, Barclays, UBS and Wells Fargo, plus more from around the globe. A third tranche, planned for later in 2017, will be open to other members and entities outside the consortium, meaning the final amount of the Series A will likely be even larger, the online publication continued.

Going forward, the company intends to build on its more than 110 employees working in nine offices around the world by both hiring new talent and opening new locations. Specifically, the startup will be using part of the investment money to develop Corda Enterprise, a paid-for version of Corda with additional features for regulated institutions.