Compliance tech firm TRM Labs raises $70M
Crypto compliance firm TRM Labs has raised a $70 million Series C funding round, valuing the company at $1 billion. The investment, which included backing from Goldman Sachs and Citi, is seen as a sign that traditional financial institutions are taking cryptocurrency risk management and regulatory compliance more seriously.
- The latest funding round was led by Blockchain Capital, which also led TRM's pre-seed round in 2018. Other returning investors include Bessemer Venture Partners and Thoma Bravo, with Galaxy Ventures joining as a new strategic investor. - TRM Labs' client base includes government and public sector agencies in over 50 countries. In Europe, the company has contracts with the UK's tax authority, HMRC, and the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to help investigate crypto-related financial crime. - The company has actively expanded its European presence, acquiring UK-based crypto investigations and training firm CSITech. It also partners with DataExpert to provide blockchain investigation tools and training to law enforcement in the Benelux and Nordic regions. - TRM's team includes former officials from various international law enforcement agencies, including the UK's National Crime Agency and Europol. The company recently appointed a Compliance Advisor for the EMEA region who has experience in public-private coordination with law enforcement in France, Spain, and the UK. - The firm was founded in 2018 by Esteban Castaño and Rahul Raina. Prior to TRM, both founders worked as management consultants at McKinsey & Company. - Key competitors in the blockchain analysis space include Chainalysis, which had a four-year head start, Solidus Labs, and CipherTrace. - The company plans to use the new funding to expand its team of AI researchers and data scientists to further develop AI-enabled compliance and investigation tools.
