Flowdesk Nets $50M in Series B Funding to Realize $250M

French-based crypto market maker Flowdesk announced the conclusion of a Series B round that successfully earned it $50 million. The Series B round attracted participation from Ripple Labs, Cathay Ledger Fund, and Eurazeo. Other participants included the French state-owned investment bank Bpifrance, ISAI, and SpeedInvest, who hailed the startup’s growing business and revenue. 

Flowdesk Concludes Successful Series B Funding

Flowdesk’s statement on Thursday, January 18, hailed the two rounds that took the crypto market maker’s valuation above $250 million. 

Flowdesk co-founder and chief executive Guilhem Chaumont clarified that the Series B funding involved pure equity financing from mid-2023 till November. 

Chaumont hailed the participants in the round he labeled as smooth despite the challenging market conditions attributed to the prolonged crypto winter. The chief executive indicated the period featured a slowdown in venture capital funding targeting the crypto space. 

Flowdesk navigated the slowdown engulfing the crypto sector to raise $50 million. The Series B round concluded 2.5 years after the startup market maker realized $30 million in the June 2022 Series A round. 

The conclusion of the Series B round elevated Flowdesk to $250 million. Previously, the firm approximated the value of $100 million during its Series A round. The uptrend in the Flowdesk valuation is derived from the flat and down rounds witnessed across the crypto industry. 

Chaumont indicated several managerial and governance structures following the Series B round. The executive illustrated that Cathay Innovation’s Jack Abitbol is joining the Flowdesk’s board of directors. The startup is counting on the addition of Cathay Innovation’s managing partner in its quest to develop its foundations. 

Flowdesk’s Growing Business

The French-based market maker has realized an uptrend in its trading volumes and revenue in recent months. Chaumont attributes the business growth to the market rebound as the sector turned bullish since mid-2023. 

Chaumont hails the market rebound for its input in the 10x volume rally. Although the specific revenue figures are elusive, the executive indicated that the startup’s trades ranged from $150M to $400M daily on the spot markets. Also, the company supports 130 decentralized and centralized crypto exchanges.  

Chaumont illustrated that the crypto market rebound arose from the optimism of the United States Securities and Exchange Commission approving the spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) bids.

The optimism paid off, with the applicants securing the regulatory nod from the Gary Gensler-led SEC on Wednesday, January 10, to allow their listing on Thursday last week. The spot Bitcoin ETFs have already realized $11 billion trading volume at press time.

Chaumont expressed optimism that the funds would stimulate a strong net inflow towards crypto. The executive considers the trend a critical and positive development for Flowdesk. 

Flowdesk is listed among the liquidity providers Grayscale Investments identified for its Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC). GBTC is among ten other spot Bitcoin ETFs approved last week by the SEC. Chaumont iterated that Flowdesk opened talks with other fund managers for a role as their liquidity provider.  

Capital Injection to Facilitate Flowdesk’s Expansion Plans

Chaumont explained that the fresh capital will facilitate executing Flowdesk plans as it pursues global business expansion. The chief executive affirmed pursuing emergent opportunities in the US and Singapore besides establishing a London office.

The plan is to secure regulatory licenses in the above markets. Given that its registration is domiciled in France, the startup prioritizes compliance with the European Union (EU) Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA) as it edges closer to its enforcement. 

Flowdesk expansion plans aim to engage 50 additional individuals to its current headcount of 100 employees. 

Chaumon confirmed that the market maker recently added Charles Tighe as its chief financial executive. Also, the firm tapped several executives from the dissolved Genesis Global Trading led by Warren Wynn, Greg Guttas, and Reed Werbitt.  

Since its establishment in 2020, Flowdesk aims to scale operations across the market. Today, the firm offers treasury management services besides over-the-counter trading. The latest Series B round is a critical capital injection that took the entire funding total to $80 million, including the $450,000 pre-seed funding in 2021.