Bitbond scoops up $1.2m for bitcoin-based lending

Peer-to-peer bitcoin lender for SEMs Bitbond has raised $1.2m in new funding.

Turkish adtech startup Mobilike’s founder Şekip Can Gökalp led the round with participation coming from other angel investors including online lender Kreditech’s co-founder and CEO Alexander Graubner-Müller.

The Berlin-based startup’s platform connects investors to SMEs with loans denominated in bitcoin, enabling cross-border lending.

Bitbond founder and CEO Radoslav Albrecht said: “The additional resources will help us to continue realizing our mission which is to make lending and borrowing globally accessible.

“We are happy to have such experienced investors supporting us on this exciting journey.”

Bitbond claims more than 1,600 loans worth $1.2m have been originated on the platform since it launched in 2013 with 76,000 users from across 120 countries registering.

The company received its own regulatory license from Germany’s BaFin financial services authority in October, making it one of the first regulated bitcoin and blockchain-based financial service providers.

The company will use the capital to further product development and expand its user base of businesses previously undeserved by traditional lenders.

Bitbond previously raised €800,000 in angel and seed rounds of funding.

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