Flowdesk Achieves $250 Million Valuation in Series B Round
French cryptocurrency marketplace maker Flowdesk has raised $50 million in a Series B funding round as its business and revenue grow.
Cathay Innovation led the round, with participation from Cathay Ledger Fund, Eurazeo, ISAI, Speedinvest, Ripple and Bpifrance, a French state-owned investment bank, Flowdesk said on Thursday. Guilhem Chaumont, co-founder and CEO of Flowdesk, told The Block that this was a purely equity financing round that began in June and closed in November. Chaumont noted that the round went “very smoothly” despite difficult market conditions and a slowdown in cryptocurrency venture capital funding last year.
Flowdesk’s Series B round comes two and a half years after it raised $30 million in a Series A round in June 2022. The new round boosts Flowdesk’s valuation to more than $250 million, up from $100 million at the time of its Series A round. A person with first-hand knowledge of the matter spoke to The Block. The increase in value is especially noteworthy considering the recent decline and decline in the cryptocurrency industry.
As part of the Series B round, Jacky Abitbol, managing partner at Cathay Innovation, joined Flowdesk’s board of directors, Chaumont said.
Flowdesk’s growing business
Chaumont said cryptocurrency market makers have seen significant increases in trading volume and revenue in recent months as the market rebounds. “As of January 2024, we have seen a three-fold increase in revenue and a ten-fold increase in sales compared to the previous year,” he said. He declined to comment on specific revenue figures, but said the company trades between $150 million and $400 million a day in spot markets and supports about 130 centralized and decentralized cryptocurrency exchanges.
The cryptocurrency market has rebounded recently, initially fueled by optimism about the possible approval of a spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund in the U.S. that eventually received regulatory approval and launched last week. These funds have already surpassed $11 billion in trading volume in just a few days. “We will continue to see strong cryptocurrency inflows through these ETFs,” Chaumont said. “And that will be very positive for the market.”
Flowdesk is one of the liquidity providers for Grayscale Bitcoin Trust, which was listed as a spot Bitcoin ETF last week. Chaumont said Flowdesk is also in talks with other ETF issuers to potentially become liquidity providers.
Flowdesk’s expansion plans
With the new capital in hand, Flowdesk plans to further expand its operations globally, with a new office in London, with a focus on growth in Singapore and the United States, Chaumont said.
The company also plans to obtain regulatory licenses in those markets and is preparing to comply with the European Union’s cryptocurrency asset market regulations “from day one,” Chaumont said. Flowdesk is currently registered in France.
Flowdesk also plans to hire about 50 more employees, adding to its current workforce of about 100, as part of its expansion plans, Chaumont said. The company recently hired Charles Tighe as chief financial officer and brought on board several executives from the now-closed Genesis Global Trading, including Reed Werbitt, Hanson Birringer, Greg Guttas and Warren Wynn.
Founded in 2020, Flowdesk also offers over-the-counter trading and treasury management services and plans to expand these services. The Series B round will bring Flowdesk’s total funding to date to more than $80 million, including a $450,000 pre-seed funding round in 2021, Chaumont said.
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