San Francisco-based Bitcoin startup Mirror has raised $8.8 million in a Series A financing round, led by Ripple Labs investor Route 66 Ventures.
The financing round witnessed participation from Battery Ventures, Crosslink Capital, RRE Ventures, and eminent VC investor and Bitcoin supporter Tim Draper. With this funding, the prediction platform utilizing Bitcoin’s blockchain technology will aim to establish itself as the smart financial contracts marketplace.
Mirror’s CEO Avish Bhama commented: “There is an unbundling of the financial services industry that’s occurring right now, and we see an enormous opportunity to provide advanced, more efficient services for risk management and hedging.” Manish further said that the company will be looking to build out its engineering team and expand its global operations.
Having received $4 million in seed funding in May last year, Mirror’s total investment is $12.8 million, which is extremely close to the $12.5 million earlier suggested by NY Times. At that time, the startup was called Vaurum Labs, and received investment from Battery Ventures, Tim Draper and AOL CEO Steve Case.
Route 66 venture partner Pascal Bouvier will join Mirror’s Board of Directors, as a part of the deal.
The deal highlights the fact that even though Bitcoin, as an investment, continues to disappoint the investors, the underlying blockchain technology is attracting significant traction from venture capitalists. It also emboldens the confidence of the investors in Bitcoin related companies even as regulations and the business environment remain extremely tight.
About Mirror
Mirror is a prediction platform that democratizes access to financial markets. It leverages blockchain technology to allow individuals and businesses to create and exchange “smart” financial contracts with automated trade settlements and zero counterparty risk. The decentralized, peer-to-peer marketplace enables efficient ways to hedge economic and business risks at a fraction of today’s costs.
