A platform providing cryptocurrency cover and recovery services has raised almost £7m in Series A funding to ‘build the world’s safety standard’ for crypto.
Coincover’s platform protects crypto users and investors from theft, user error and infrastructure failure. It claims to utilise military-grade technology to recover access to lost funds, with as much as 20% of the world’s Bitcoin lost as a result of human error.
Founded in May 2018, its platform combines a policy underwritten by Lloyd’s of London with technology created by specialists across government, military and law enforcement, giving access to secure backup and recovery of private keys with government-standard security protocols.
After launching the product last year, Coincover is working with companies including BitGo, Curv and Fireblocks to provide its innovative plug-and-play platform to millions of potential end-users.
London’s Element Ventures led the round with participation from DRW Venture Capital, CMT Digital, Avon Ventures, Valor Equity Partners, FinTech Collective, Susquehanna Private Equity Investments, LLLP, Volt Capital and the founding investors, Insurtech Gateway Fund and The Development Bank of Wales.
“Crypto can be complex and confusing and people have valid fears around the safety of their funds,” said co-founder and CEO David Janczewski.
“With Coincover, we are providing a fundamental building block for a rapidly maturing market by ensuring that people can be protected against making a mistake that can end up costing them thousands.
“This investment means we can rapidly scale our growth to market and consumer demands, and in doing so ensure more people can invest in crypto safely.”
Investors can buy and sell over 200 different coins from different platforms and wallets, helping to reduce the risk associated with investing savings in crypto.
“More and more people are investing in cryptocurrencies but the industry needs infrastructure and safeguards to make it more consumer-friendly. People don’t want to be losing their laptops and having millions go missing,” said Michael McFadgen, Partner at Element Ventures.
“Coincover is building the infrastructure that will allow crypto to reach mass adoption, with a fantastic management team that can tackle this problem in a way that no one else can. We’re delighted to be supporting David and the team and can’t wait to be a part of their growth journey.”
Kim Trautmann, Head of DRW Venture Capital, said: “As an early investor in crypto assets, it’s been clear to us that there would be tremendous opportunities for smart, forward-thinking startups to develop products that support the evolution of the ecosystem.
“Coincover has positioned itself to take the lead in solving one of the most prevalent problems: how to protect wallet access and the funds within them. We’re excited to make this investment and work alongside Coincover’s world-class leadership team to raise additional awareness around these issues.”
Sean Lippel, Head of Digital Assets at FinTech Collective, said: “The private key experience is still too foreign, cumbersome, and risky for mainstream crypto users. As digital assets look to scale adoption from millions to hundreds of millions of users, the check-the-box deposit and theft cover solution offered by Coincover will be a critical component.
“We are excited to back such a talented technical team out of the UK with a strategic B2B2C marketing strategy that will enable custodians globally.”
Soona Amhaz, General Partner at Volt Capital, said: One of the biggest challenges in our industry is crypto protection, and Coincover is the team to solve it. Coincover is building critical infrastructure to help get users and institutions more comfortable with this new financial paradigm.
“We’re delighted to support David and the rest of the Coincover leadership team.”