Finoa, a Germany-based provider of crypto custody and staking services, has accomplished a successful funding round, securing $15 million. The strategic financing round was co-led by Maven 11 Capital and Balderton Capital. The announcement, released by the Finoa team on January 9th, highlighted the participation of additional investors, such as Blue Bay Ventures, Signature Ventures, Coparion, and Venture Stars.
Critical Insights from the Funding Round
Christopher May, the co-founder and CEO of Finoa, revealed in an interview that the capital round commenced in June 2023 and concluded in December of the same year. May emphasized that Finoa’s initial goal was to secure $5 to $6 million from existing investors. However, the company’s recent profitability sparked heightened investor interest, ultimately leading to a more substantial amount being raised.
The strategic investment round represents a noteworthy development, occurring nearly three years after Finoa’s successful Series A funding round in April 2021, where they raised $22 million. May explained that, in the face of challenging market conditions last year, Finoa chose to forgo a substantial Series B round. Instead, they opted for a more scaled-down strategic round, strategically leveraging it to support their ongoing growth initiatives.
The CEO noted that Finoa, established in 2018, achieved profitability until 2021. Subsequently, in the ensuing two years, the company encountered losses attributed to difficult market conditions and the insolvency of crypto firms. Considering the recent resurgence in the market and the expansion of staking services, May mentioned that Finoa concluded the fourth quarter of 2023 with a positive financial outcome.
Significant Actions Undertaken by the Company
Since its inception in May 2022, Finoa Consensus Services, the staking department of Finoa, has amassed a total of over 500 million euros in assets. May highlighted that this staking division currently constitutes almost 60% of Finoa’s overall revenue.
As per Nodes Guru data, Finoa supports staking services for over ten blockchain networks and stands as the third-largest validator for the modular blockchain network Celestia. May additionally highlighted that the company’s primary crypto asset custody business constitutes approximately 30% of its total revenue, while the remaining revenue is derived from brokerage and other services.
Finoa has recently unveiled a new offering named FinoaConnect, which is a custody wallet infrastructure designed to grant customers access to decentralized finance (DeFi) applications. May noted that this service is presently undergoing a trial phase and is anticipated to contribute additional revenue for the company upon full operational implementation.
