Bitcoin startup River Financial raises $35 million in Series B round, with Peter Thiel among investors

Bitcoin-focused startup River Financial has raised $35 million in a Series B funding round led by Kingsway Capital.

1/ Today I’m thrilled to announce the @River Series B $35mm fundraise, led by Kingsway Capital! This is one more step on our mission to champion an honest and robust financial system. https://t.co/pPOCyVYvNt

— Alexander Leishman ?? (@Leishman) May 16, 2023

Among other investors: PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel, Cygni, Goldcrest and Valor Equity Partners. Representatives said they would not disclose River’s valuation.

Based in Columbus, Ohio, the company offers a range of Bitcoin-focused services: brokerage, custody solutions, mining, wallets, and infrastructure components for interfacing with Lightning Network.

River Financial CEO Alex Leishman is confident in a “new wave of interest in Bitcoin,” which, “this time, is not hype,” and is largely driven by institutional adoption.

“Bankruptcies and the help to banks this year have been a troubling signal, exposing cracks in the traditional financial system and reminding us why Bitcoin matters — it is a safe path to a stronger and more transparent global economy,” he noted.

The funds will be used to expand the product lineup, invest in infrastructure products and mining.

In the previous round led by Goldcrest, in March 2021, River Financial raised $12 million.

In June 2020 the startup secured $5.7 million in seed funding.

Earlier, Standard Chartered’s crypto custody arm Zodia Custody raised $36 million.