GRVT Raises $7.1 Million in Funding for Hybrid Crypto Exchange
GRVT, a crypto project focused on building a hybrid exchange, has secured $7.1 million in pre-seed and seed funding. The seed round, valued at $5 million, was co-led by Matrix Partners and Delphi Digital. Other investors in the round included Susquehanna Investment Group, CMS Holdings, ABCDE, Hack VC, and Matter Labs. The pre-seed round, worth $2.1 million, saw participation from investors such as 500 Startups and Folius Ventures.
The funding has brought GRVT’s post-money valuation to $39 million. The company’s CEO, Hong Yea, revealed that the seed round began earlier this year and closed in August. The pre-seed round was completed in October 2022 but is being disclosed now. Both rounds involved equity with a token warrant.
Despite the current bearish trend in the crypto market, GRVT was able to secure funding due to its focus on developing a platform that addresses market needs following FTX’s collapse last November. According to Yea, GRVT aims to prevent similar incidents by not holding client funds while providing an easy-to-use experience for both sophisticated and retail users.
What is GRVT?
GRVT is a hybrid crypto exchange that combines the efficiencies of centralized exchanges with the self-custody features of decentralized exchanges. The platform achieves this through off-chain order matching and on-chain settlements. Trade orders are quickly matched off-chain using GRVT’s central limit order book with a speed of 600,000 transactions per second and under two milliseconds of latency. Finalized trades are then recorded on-chain for transparency and accuracy using smart contracts deployed on zkSync Era, a high-performance Layer-2 blockchain.
GRVT intends to compete directly with centralized exchanges like Binance and OKX. The platform plans to launch in January, offering crypto perpetuals and options trading. Support for spot trading will be added around April.
GRVT Expanding Licensing Efforts
With the new funding, GRVT aims to expand its licensing efforts. Currently holding a virtual asset service provider (VASP) license in Lithuania, the company is in the process of applying for a Bermuda license. Afterward, GRVT plans to expand to the Middle East and Europe for additional permits.
The company has a team of 16 employees across Singapore, Hong Kong, the U.K., and Lithuania. They plan to hire more staff in sales, marketing, compliance, and engineering. Notable advisors for GRVT include Darius Sit from QCP Capital and Tom Shaughnessy from Delphi Digital. Delphi will provide guidance on GRVT’s native token launch scheduled for late 2024.
The board of directors consists of Harry Man from Matrix Partners, along with co-founders Hong Yea, Aaron Ong, and Matthew Quek. Yea, Ong, and Quek have previously held positions at companies such as Goldman Sachs, Facebook, and DBS Bank.
Hot Take: GRVT Raises $7.1 Million for Hybrid Crypto Exchange
GRVT has successfully raised $7.1 million in funding to support the development of its hybrid crypto exchange platform. Despite the current market conditions, the project attracted investors due to its focus on addressing market needs and preventing incidents like FTX’s collapse. With its unique combination of centralized exchange efficiencies and decentralized exchange features, GRVT aims to compete with established players in the industry. The funding will also enable the expansion of licensing efforts and team growth as GRVT continues to establish itself in the crypto space.
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