Goldman Sachs-backed Blockdaemon intends to create additional highly skilled tech jobs in Galway after raising $155 million (€132 million) in a new funding round led by the Japanese conglomerate SoftBank.
The Series B round values the blockchain infrastructure platform at $1.25 billion, awarding it so-called unicorn status.
The latest investment comes just three months after Blockdaemon’s $28 million Series A round and brings total funding to date to just under $190 million.
Founded in 2017, the company established its European headquarters in Galway a year later. Other backers of the start-up include Comcast.
In conversation with The Irish Times, chief executive Konstantin Richter said he didn't have concrete figures as yet but that Blockdaemon expects to create at least another 25 to 50 jobs by the end of 2022. The company currently employs 10 people here.
“Ireland continues to be the base for our staking business and the team is growing aggressively over there. We love it in Ireland – great talent,” Mr Richter said.
Blockdaemon has developed a platform that provides easy deployment, connection and management of nodes, allowing companies to launch new-permission blockchain projects in minutes instead of months.
Blockchain networks
It currently supports more than 40 blockchain networks including ETH 2.0, Bitcoin, Solana, Terra, Cardano, Polkadot and the Lightning Network. The company also powers the institutional backbone for activities such as digital coin transactions by tens of millions of registered users across some of the world’s largest exchanges, custodians and financial institutions.
Blockdaemon said over the last 90 days it had significantly accelerated its growth and increased its managed node count from 8,000 to 18,000, more than doubling its operational footprint.
“This latest large infusion of capital is another major milestone for Blockdaemon and will ensure that we continue to revitalise existing financial infrastructure around the globe,” said Mr Richter.
