True Global Ventures (TGV) invests over US$24 million (over €22 million) into Ledger, the leading global platform for digital assets and Web3. This funding will enable Ledger to further its global ambitions and accelerate its drive to becoming a truly desirable consumer technology brand.
This Series C extension round maintains the same valuation of €1.3 billion. The valuation reflects confidence from investors in Ledger despite macroeconomic and industry-specific headwinds. It is backed by a number of existing and new investors, including True Global Ventures, 10T and Molten Ventures (formerly Draper Esprit) who are members and observers of the Supervisory Board. FirstMark Capital from previous rounds is also an observer of the Supervisory Board.
Ledger currently secures more than 20 percent of the world’s cryptocurrencies and over 30 percent of the world’s NFTs. In December, the company announced its latest device, Ledger Stax, with a unique design from Ledger adviser Tony Fadell, builder of the iPod, iPhone, and co-founder of Nest.True Global Ventures came out with the 5 Web3 megatrends for 2023, which were very well received by the global investor community. Within one of the Megatrends, TGV believes that the 3 decentralization winners for 2023 are: Self-custody, Bitcoin, DeFi.
“Traditional Finance” (TradFi) firms like Institutional Custodians and Investment Advisors, etc are accelerating their efforts to work more closely with Ledger which provides best-in-class enterprise security solutions, including the only secure governance layer for enterprise self-custody. This includes Komainu, a hybrid custodian solution set up as a joint venture between Nomura and Ledger. Also, Coinhouse, a leading French regulated exchange and portfolio company of True Global Ventures, offers Ledger Enterprise as a custodian solution for their clients.
Dušan Stojanović, Founding Partner of True Global Ventures comments:
“Why do we believe that Ledger will play a critical role for the foreseeable future, both on retail self-custody as well as on the enterprise-institutional side with solutions like Komainu, the JV between Nomura and Ledger?”
“There are 3 reasons. Firstly, during the last 9 months, we have seen major crashes with Terra-LUNA and FTX. In both instances, there has been a ‘flight to secure’ assets safely. Secondly, now with 3 U.S. and 1 European bank being closed and saved either by regulators or competitors, there has been a ‘flight to Bitcoin’, attracting new flows where users need to have a secure solution, when increasing their exposure to Bitcoin. Thirdly, this is the fourth company that we have invested into that has become or is a global market leader, which we believe will benefit from a general bear market.”
“2022 was a standout year for Ledger, culminating in the launch of Ledger Stax at Ledger Op3n in Paris. I’m excited to share that we’re starting 2023 where we left off — doubling down on our mission to bring self custody to everyone,” said Pascal Gauthier, Chairman & CEO of Ledger. “We’re proud to have True Global ventures join us on our journey. Dušan and the team at True Global Ventures are seeing the rapid digital value and hardware revolution that is coming. They join a strong list of investors who believe Ledger is the gold standard.”
Ledger’s product offerings include Ledger Nano X (awarded Editor’s Choice for Best Crypto Wallet) and Ledger Nano S Plus, the best-selling hardware wallets, Ledger Live, the secure omnichain digital asset app, and Ledger Enterprise Solutions, the best enterprise-grade digital assets security solution.
Ledger has outperformed the market as people flee centralized crypto and banking solutions for self-custody, and recently crossed six million device sales, with more than 1.5 million monthly users on Ledger Live. The company has managed to infiltrate mainstream culture through partnerships with fashion brands Fendi and Hublot, and further establish its role as a leader in Web3 through partnerships with brands such as VeeFriends and Nike’s RTFKT. Ledger has come to physically represent digital value and collectibles in culture and art.
Ledger has also partnered with True Global Ventures’ portfolio company, The Sandbox, the leading Open Metaverse platform. The “School of Block” education experience in the LedgerVerse was launched with over 300,000 unique visitors and 4.6M quests completed during the Alpha Season 3 period in September 2022. It focuses on educating users on securing their digital assets while making the process fun. This initiative was popular and they also relaunched it with a French flair to celebrate the French Weeks now till April 6th, 2023.
This partnership has now deepened into The Sandbox offering security stack and treasury management solutions while having seamless security integration for its brand partners, powered by Ledger Enterprise to safeguard businesses’ digital assets. This makes it simpler and easier for brands to secure their LANDs while also securing the wallet containing The Sandbox NFT collection.
This latest fundraising round will allow Ledger to realize its ambitious expansion plans including Ledger Stax and future hardware innovations. Key innovations include easier onboarding and user experience in the world of Bitcoin and wallet-connected apps. Ledger, is building and providing best-in-class services for its users including buying, swapping and exploring the world of NFTs.
Ledger recently announced that Ledger Stax demand had already exceeded supply, making it the most successful product launch in the company’s history. Further inventory will be available for pre-order through drops later in Summer 2023.
Ledger Stax will also be available to purchase from our retail partners, including Best Buy in North America, alongside the Ledger Nano X and Nano S Plus. Right now anyone can get the best digital asset security in the world at $80 for a Nano S Plus, with one hour pickup from Best Buy.
Ledger also recently announced the launch of the Ledger Extension, a secure browser connection that makes it easier than ever to use your Ledger device with Wallet-Connected Applications (Web3).
Dan Tapiero, board member and Founder/CIO/Managing Partner of 10T Holdings and 1RoundTable Partners, says: “10T Holdings is again excited to support Ledger in its plans for expansion and growth. Despite what was a difficult year in ’22 for most businesses in the digital asset ecosystem, Ledger stood out as one of the star performers. With the advent of Stax in Q2 we expect 2023 to be a record year for the firm.”
To learn more about Ledger, visit ledger.com, and read its latest blog posts here.
Ledger was supported by Goldman Sachs Bank Europe SE who acted as sole placement agent on the transaction and by Jones Day as legal advisors.
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