Crypto prime broker SheeldMarket raises $10 million in Series A funding

Venture Capital • October 12, 2021, 10:00AM EDT
the block

SheeldMarket, a licensed crypto prime broker based in France, has raised $10 million in a Series A funding round.

London-based venture capital firm Atomico led the round, with Semantic Ventures, also based in London, participating. Angel investors, including Ledger CEO Pascal Gauthier, and Alexis Bonillo, co-founder of social map app Zenly, which was recently acquired by Snapchat, also backed the round. All existing investors joined the round too.

As part of the deal, Atomico partner Siraj Khaliq has joined SheeldMarket’s board of directors.

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With fresh capital at hand, SheeldMarket plans to grow its platform to offer access to derivatives trading and permissioned DeFi protocols such as Aave Arc. "Since we are a broker under regulatory supervision, we cannot trade directly with non-permission DeFi protocols as there is no KYC," SheeldMarket CEO Oliver Yates told The Block.

SheeldMarket is regulated by the French financial regulator AMF. It currently provides institutional investors access to crypto spot trading. Its clients include crypto hedge funds, blockchain or DeFi foundations, and fintechs looking to embed crypto into their offering, said Yates.

To expand its operations, SheeldMarket is also looking to double its current team of 17 in the coming months, said Yates.

The Series A round brings the firm's total funding to date to $11 million. Last year, SheeldMarket raised $1 million in seed funding co-led by Draper Dragon and Axeleo Capital.

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