Venture funding for blockchain startups is on the rise. According to a report from CB Insights, last year blockchain companies raised a record-breaking $25.2 billion, making up 4 percent of all VC dollars distributed in 2021. That trend is seemingly already underway this year, despite a general slowdown in venture funding.
One Chicago-area startup getting in on the funding action is BloXroute Labs. Earlier this week it announced that it raised $70 in a Series B funding round led by SoftBank Vision Fund 2.
Founded in 2018 and based in Evanston, BloXroute provides blockchain network services that can be useful for traders. According to its website, BloXroute’s distribution network boosts transaction processing 400ms to 1000ms faster that others.
In crypto trading, transaction speed is a big factor not only because prices to purchase currencies fluctuate in a matter of seconds, but also because it needs speed to be on par with traditional credit card transactions if it hopes to become a main payment method in the future. According to Wealth and Finance, Bitcoin can process up to five transitions per second whereas Visa cards can process 1,700 transitions per second. In a real-world scenario, having slow transitions speeds for crypto would be annoying at the very least for merchants and consumers.
“DeFi is peer-to-peer. You need to be connected with everyone because critical information — prices, position, arbitrage opportunities — can come from everywhere. This is where BloXroute comes in. We propagate DeFi information almost at the speed of light, allowing our users to make better trades,” BloXroute CEO Uri Klarman told reporters at The Block.
According to CrunchBase, prior to its latest funding round, BloXroute had raised $20.6 million across several rounds and now the company’s total venture funding stands at $90.6 million.
With the new funding, the company is planning to expand its headcount to 100 employees. It currently employs around 30 individuals, according to The Block. BloXroute is actively hiring for dozens of roles spanning its business and engineering teams.
