21Shares parent company raises $25m at $2bn valuation
The latest funding round pushes 21.co to become Switzerland’s largest crypto unicorn
21.co, parent company of 21Shares, the crypto investment product firm, has secured $25m in a new funding round that has pushed the firm’s valuation to upwards of $2bn.
The UK hedge fund Marshall Wace led the round, with participation from Collab+Currency, ETFS Capital, Quiet Ventures and Valor Equity Partners. The funding will be used towards driving product growth and expansion in key markets, the company said.
21Shares, Registered in Zug, Switzerland, was founded in 2018 byOphelia Snyder and Hany Rashwan, and has offices in both Zurich and New York.
The latest funding round, which is the company’s first raise in two years, makes 21.co Switzerland’s largest crypto unicorn, according to the company.
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Switzerland's largest crypto unicorn
The firm had as much as $3bn in assets under management in November 2021, the same time that Bitcoin neared its peak price of $69,000, according to a press release The firm also increased its headcount by 75%
Earlier this year, 21Shares launched the world’s first crypto exchange-traded products (ETPs) to combine both bitcoin and gold. It will be listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange and offered by 21Shares and ByteTree.
Rashwan, CEO of 21.co said, “My co-founder, Ophelia, and I set out with a simple mission to make crypto more accessible. Now, we're the highest valued and largest tech startup in Switzerland – and we're still only in the early days. 21.co remains committed to building innovative products that meet investor demand as this asset class continues to gain rapid momentum.”
Snyder, the company’s president, said, “The success 21.co has experienced over the past four years is truly amazing. We have built an incredibly diverse team, with some of the brightest minds in crypto, and brought on best-in-class investors.
“Our drive to revolutionise the world of crypto and build bridges into the asset class is only just getting started.”
