How did Amber Group raise $100M?

Crypto-finance company Amber Group has recently raised $100M in a funding round, valuing the company at $1B. This marks a major milestone for Amber Group, becoming one of the few crypto-finance companies to join the highly coveted “unicorn” club.

In this article, we will explore how Amber Group raised such a large amount of money and what advantages the group brings to investors.

Overview of Amber Group

Amber Group is a crypto-finance company that achieved unicorn status when it was valued at $1 billion following a successful $100 million raise. This funding round was led by New York-based venture capital firm Tiger Global Management and saw participation from established investors like Sequoia Capital China and Andreessen Horowitz.

This article will examine what Amber Group is, what they do, and how they raised $100 million.

What is Amber Group?

Amber Group is a crypto-finance enabler that provides a comprehensive suite of infrastructure and services for the digital asset ecosystem. Founded in 2018, the company has built an interlinked network of products and services for institutional investors, retail traders, and independent developers worldwide. As part of this network, it has created a universal gateway to digital assets and global markets across asset classes and exchanges with no geographical or functional boundaries.

Amber Group’s core business focuses on infrastructure connectivity, custody solutions, order routing engines, market data solutions, liquidity tools, analytics programs, and API integrations. In addition to this core offering, they also provide white-label solutions for brokerage establishments needing to set up quickly in multiple locations worldwide. Such turnkey offerings can reduce time to market significantly compared with traditional go-to-market strategies.

In 2020 Amber Group announced a $100M raise that valued the company at $1B post-valuation. This made them one of only two crypto-finance companies in that year to have an evaluation of over $1 billion, the other being Coinbase. Their success was driven by multiple factors, including their ability to operate seamlessly within the mobile gaming industry through partnerships with companies like F2Pool (the largest mining pool). By providing access to capital via tokenized investments and integrated banking capabilities tailored towards retail investors, they were able to build a strong presence from North America through Asia.

This provided them with increased brand recognition, which created strong demand for their products worldwide and allowed them to fund technological advancements that aimed at reducing risk while driving revenue growth.

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Amber Group’s Business Model

Amber Group is a crypto-finance company based in Hong Kong and was founded in 2018. The company offers web and mobile crypto trading and financial services to customers in Asia and Europe. The company provides users with an integrated platform for Bitcoin (BTC) futures, liquidity solutions, margin trading systems, spot trading services, APIs, lending solutions, OTC services and industry education programs.

The company focuses on two main pillars as part of its business model: leveraged trading and investment services. Leveraged trading enables users to speculate on the future price of digital assets while minimizing the amount of capital they need to invest. Investment services allow users to access products such as options contracts and fixed income investments with cryptocurrency as the underlying asset – giving investors exposure to digital asset markets without having to own the underlying asset directly.

Amber Group’s financial products have proven popular with institutions, investors and retail traders alike. In 2020 the company closed a $100M Series C round bringing its total raised capital up to $115M at a valuation of over $1B. The majority of this round was led by major foreign venture capitalists such as Sequoia Capital China and Coinbase Ventures, indicating that institutional investors are quickly gaining confidence in both Amber Group’s ability to execute as well as the growth potential within crypto-financial offerings generally.

Amber Group’s Investors

Amber Group, a crypto-finance company that provides trading and lending services for the

cryptocurrency markets, has raised $100M in a Series B funding round to further its mission of driving financial inclusion by unlocking global liquidity events. The funding round was led by Coatue Management, with strong participation from Grab Ventures and 8 Decimal Capital. Prevailing investors GSR, Spark Digital Capital, Temasek-Backed Vice Fund, FTX also participated in this round.

The $100M Series B fundraise comes less than a year after Amber Group announced its $14M Series A involving prominent investors such as Sequoia China and Hillhouse Ventures — valuing it at around $500M. With its latest fundraise, Amber’s worth is now at over the billion-dollar mark.

Amber Group said the investment would be used to accelerate product development across all verticals — Spot and Margins Trading; Prime Brokerage; Institutional Services; Markets; Network Solutions; and Supply Chain Financing Solutions. The company also plans to continue building local teams across markets including Greater China as well as Southeast Asia (Singapore).

Crypto-finance company Amber Group valued at $1B following $100M raise

Crypto-finance company Amber Group recently announced its $100M raise, which has led to the company being valued at $1B. This success was achieved through a combination of fundraising rounds, including investments from leading venture capital firms, strategic partnerships, and the sale of Founder Equity.

Going into detail, this section will look at how Amber Group was able to raise $100M.

The Funding Round

Amber Group, one of the leading cryptocurrency-financial services companies in Asia, has closed a Series C funding round of $100 million at a valuation of $1 billion. According to investors, the funds will be used to accelerate product and ecosystem development and global expansion.

The funding round was participated by prominent investment firms such as Paymentwall’s VC arm – Payoneer Ventures and Founders Bank, along with venture investors including Cathay Innovation, Starling Capital and Qianhai Wutong M&A Funds.

The latest investment brings Amber’s total funds raised since 2017 to 200 million USD across its four rounds so far. As part of the fundraising exercise, its current investors like Sequoia Capital China also re-affirmed their commitment towards long-term growth of the company.

This Series C is particularly significant for Amber considering that the crypto-finance sector is facing a challenging economic environment due to increased regulation enforcement across different geographies that has extremely impacted investor confidence in the sector. Despite this macroeconomic landscape, Dymon Asia Ventures – one of Southeast Asia’s leading venture capital firm also joined onboard for this latest milestone achieved by Amber Group.

With this raise at such market conditions, Amber has cemented its position as one of Asia’s premier fintech companies across international markets. Through this strategic financing which included both debt and equity instruments, it is well positioned for huge leaps ahead to achieve its greater vision through technological innovation for global financial inclusion.

The Valuation

The privately held crypto-finance company Amber Group has been valued at $1 billion following a $100 million raise. The raise, which was completed in January 2021, was led by Tiger Global, a prominent venture capital firm that has also backed other companies such as Spotify and Peloton. Marc Andreessen, an early investor in Twitter and Facebook, and Paradigm—co-founded by Coinbase’s Fred Ehrsam—also took part in the round.

The massive valuation for the crypto-finance firm comes as more investors are paying attention to the industry and its immense potential. Amber’s impressive list of backers is indicative of the company’s reputation as well as its commitment to best practices in areas such as data privacy and compliance. Furthermore, Amber provides software solutions for cryptocurrency trading along with traditional financial products like forward derivatives contracts. This unique product offering drives adoption across a broad spectrum of industries including crypto and traditional finance.

Amber’s commendable position within the crypto-asset space, paired with its wide portfolio of products, have positioned it among a few exclusive firms that have earned trust from institutions around the globe while maintaining competition with their peers in terms of price discovery and liquidity execution capabilities. Moreover, with ongoing market expansion driven by retail investors getting increasingly involved in cryptocurrency markets, Amber looks poised to capitalize on this surge with products designed to protect users from market volatility while still providing them access to liquidity options.

The Impact of the Raise

The crypto-finance company Amber Group recently closed a $100M round of funding, resulting in the company being valued at over $1B. This influx of capital has wide-reaching implications for the future of Amber Group and could extensively shape the nascent crypto-finance industry.

The raise identifies a new growth trajectory for Stark Group, allowing them to expand their operations internationally by entering new markets and collaborating with global partners. The funds can also be used to fund research and development that produces innovative products, proof points and infrastructure improvements. Additionally, these funds will likely be used further to develop Stark Group’s existing suite of financial solutions.

Due to the transparency of cryptocurrency ledgers, Amber can accurately monitor how the funds from this investment will be used going forward and observe whether or not their desired results are achieved. Furthermore, since there are many investors involved in this raise who want their funds to be put to good use, Stark Group is subject to greater public scrutiny on how this money is spent by investors as well as authorities such as regulators.

It is clear that this $100M raise holds great potential for Amber Group but also promises an increased level of accountability in an industry where transparency has lagged behind traditional banking institutions historically. While time will tell how successful this investment ride will eventually become, its impact on crypto-finance in general presents real optimism for stakeholders in the space going forward.

Conclusion

Amber Group, the crypto-finance company valued at $1 billion following its recent $100 million raise, has experienced rapid growth over the last few years. Since 2018, Amber has attracted venture capital investors with its innovative and uniquely differentiated approach in the cryptocurrency financial service space.

As part of its funding process, Amber conducted private institutional placements across several rounds for sizeable investments from global asset managers, financial technology experts, and family offices. Moreover, it has also attracted strategic investments from leading institutions such as Credit Suisse and Carioca Capital.

In the future, Amber is well equipped to continue expanding through careful exploration of opportunities in its global network of clients and partners. The success of this recent funding round indicates institutional confidence in the potential of digital assets as an alternative asset class, as well as in Amber’s differentiated focus on providing creative infrastructure solutions for professional traders across geographies.