Ripple Gains Strategic Partners, $55 million in Series B Funding
Ripple recently secured an additional $55 million from their latest funding round, as well adding several heavyweights in the banking sector to their network, giving Ripple a huge endorsement within the fintech space and an avenue for further consumer adoption.
The funding round introduced new investors to Ripple which include Standard Chartered, Accenture Ventures, SCB Digital Ventures, Siam Commercial Bank, and SBI Holdings. Interestingly enough, Seagate Technology, most known for their storage solutions, participated in the funding round as well.
On the latest partnership between Ripple and Standard Chartered, Gautam Jain, global head, digitisation and client access, transaction banking for Standard Chartered said,
“With over $155 trillion of cross-border payments being made between businesses annually, it is crucial that we continue to innovate to make international payments easier and faster, not just for our clients but also for the future of the payments industry. As a leading international bank committed to facilitating trade, commerce, and investments, this partnership will go a long way in progressing our digitization agenda to develop innovative solutions for our clients.”
In total, Ripple has seen $93 million flow into their project since conception, making it one of the highest valued blockchain projects. Ripple’s CEO and co-founder Chris Larsen stated that they may ‘never have to raise money again’, furthermore he stated that 2016 is the year banks puts blockchain technology into practice,
“2016 has proven to be the year where the most forward-thinking financial institutions are actually using blockchain technologies for payments and settlement rather than as an experiment. The continued growth of the Ripple network represents a major endorsement of our open approach to connecting the world’s banks and their customers, and together we are building a modern payments system to enable new economic opportunities and the seamless flow of value around the world.”
It also announced that five new banks joined as members of the Ripple network. Standard Chartered, which was also a participant in the funding round, National Australia Bank, Mizuho Financial Group, Siam Commercial Bank and Shanghai Huarui Bank.
Andrew Fang, general manager & head of innovation and research at Shanghai Huarui Bank, said,
“We view blockchain as a competitive advantage that allows us to provide differentiated products, serve the on-demand expectations of our existing clients, and grow our customer base. For example, using the Ripple solution, we are working on a new commercial payment service for retail customers that will allow them to send money from China to the US and other countries in real-time.”
In response to this, Ripple’s price has surged upward but has since retreated back within the recent range. Ripple posted a high against bitcoin at 00001750 but is now trading near 0.00001115. It is too soon to say whether this is just a new established floor or if Ripple is due for an upward correction soon.
Ripple now deals with 15 banks of the top 50 international banks, where 10 of those are in commercial deal phases as well as over 30 bank pilots completed. But the CEO reckons that more of these banks will go live on their platform this year, with banks introducing and marketing their Ripple-based services by 2017.
