IDG, Goldman back US bitcoin start-up's China expansion

Existing investors including Breyer Capital, General Catalyst Partners, Accel Partners, Oak Investment Partners, Fenway Summer, Digital Currency Group, and Pantera Capital, also took part in the round.

Set up in 2013 by US tech entrepreneur Jeremy Allaire, Circle offers users a way to securely send and receive both bitcoins and US dollars via a mobile application. This latest round - its third so far - brings the start-up's total fundraising to $76 million. Accel, General Catalyst, and Breyer provided $9 million in October 2013 and then took part in a $17 million round which took place the following May.

Following this latest investment, the company says it will be able to leverage IDG's network and experience to bring its products and services to China. It has also indicated plans for the platform to facilitate renminbi transactions.

"Consumer finance is undergoing a profound transformation with the rise of mobile payment applications and a growing appetite for financial products from non-traditional providers," said Quan Zhou, a managing director at IDG who has joined Circle's board, in a statement. "We feel that Circle is strongly positioned to capitalize on these trends.

There have been several bitcoin-related VC investments in the past two years. One of the most recent involved Korean bitcoin exchange and merchant processor, Korbit. This start-up was also backed by Pantera, which invested $3 million in a Series A round alongside SoftBank Ventures Korea.

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• Topics
• Technology
• Financials
• Venture
• Expansion
• Greater China
• Technology
• Financial Services
• Venture
• Goldman Sachs
• Growth capital
• China