Crypto lender Babel Finance achieves unicorn status with $80M Series B

Crypto lender Babel Finance achieves unicorn status with $80M Series B

The funding round brings the company's valuation to $2 billion.

Babel Finance has achieved unicorn status after raising $80 million in a funding round that brings the crypto finance provider's value to $2 billion.

  • The lead investors were China-focused venture capital fund Jeneration Capital, U.S.-based crypto investment firm 10T Holdings, and existing shareholders Dragonfly Capital and BAI Capital, according to a press release obtained by CoinDesk. Circle Ventures and other Asia-Pacific-based family offices also participated in the Series B round, the press release said.
  • The company provides financial services for Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH) and stablecoins to a "select clientele of approximately 500 clients," according to the press release.
  • At the end of 2021, Babel Finance had an outstanding loan balance of more than $3 billion, up from $2 billion in February of the previous year. Monthly derivatives trading volume averaged $800 million, and the company had structured and traded more than $20 billion worth of options products.
  • Babel will use the funds to drive its global expansion and continue its compliance efforts, Del Wang, the company's co-founder and CEO, told CoinDesk in an email.
  • "Babel Finance has tapped into a market with high barriers to entry," said Dan Tapiero, CEO and managing partner of 10T. "[It] has built a commendable reputation as a highly specialized and trusted crypto financial institution."
  • When asked how the market downturn is affecting the company's operations, Wang said that fundraising shows investor confidence in the company. Since institutional investors are mostly long-term investors, "a bear market can provide opportunities for them."
  • The company started in 2018 as a lender to crypto miners in China. Since then, it has targeted institutional investors in Singapore and Hong Kong.