Today institutional digital asset custody startup Komainu announced it closed a $25 million Series A led by Alan Howard of Elwood Asset Management. Other investors include Galaxy Digital, NOIA Capital and Nomura Research Institute (NRI), all strategic partners. The three joint venture founders Nomura, digital asset custody firm Ledger and Coinshares, also increased their investment.
After setting up the institution-focused venture in Jersey (U.K.) in 2018, the solution was launched nine months ago. That’s almost perfect timing. So far, it has $3 billion in assets under custody. The additional funds will go towards expanding the assets supported, growing geographically and adding prime brokerage services.
“Komainu has gone from strength to strength over the past year, capturing growing institutional interest in the digital asset space,” said Steve Ashley, Head of Wholesale, Nomura. “These new partners and investors come as Komainu embarks on the next stage of its plan to build a best-in-class digital asset custody platform.”
The institutional digital asset custody sector is becoming quite active. Yesterday PayPal confirmed it acquired digital custody company Curv. Another startup Anchorage, raised an $80 million Series A two weeks ago. Last month, the largest U.S. custodian BNY Mellon said it was entering the space. And in December, Standard Chartered and Northern Trust announced an institutional digital custody solution Zodia.
