HomeCryptoGoogle, Goldman Sachs invest in a bitcoin-based company

Google, Goldman Sachs invest in a bitcoin-based company

Forbes reports that Google and Goldman Sachs have invested in Veem, a project related to corporate payments.

The company was created by Marwan Forzley, a serial entrepreneur who sold his previous company to Western Union and who has already raised about $25 million for his project that completely eliminates banks from payment processes.

Veem, takes advantage of bitcoin’s total disintermediation that allows linking directly customer accounts to those of suppliers.

This new solution, particularly suitable for international multi-currency payments, does not rely on intermediaries to move money between different countries around the world, nor does it require either party to own bitcoins directly.

Based in San Francisco, Veem began raising funds in May 2015 and over the years has already grown from 590 initial customers to over 80,000.

This new round of investment serves to accelerate the company’s growth; in addition to Goldman Sachs and Google Ventures (now named GV), it also includes Kleiner Perkins, Silicon Valley Bank, Trend Forward Capital and Pantera Capital.

In this regard, Forzley said, “What’s important about this round is the acknowledgement of the size of the opportunity, the size of the market, the size of the pain point that we’re solving for”.

After the $25 million raised in March 2017, the total amount raised in the new round is $69.3 million. The main investor is Goldman Sachs, through its Principal Strategic Investment Group, and it is expected that the CEO of the Investment Group, Rana Yared, will join Veem as a non-voting observer.

Goldman Sachs’ Principal Strategic Investment Group is no stranger to this type of investment, Circle is an example.

Instead, the other big investor, GV, owned by Alphabet (formerly Google), makes a stir. Karim Faris, general partner of GV, said that Veem could be the first bitcoin-based startup to be listed on the stock exchange and become a public company.

Faris, who will also sit on Veem’s board of directors, said: “We’re not a strategic investor. It’s definitely not a strategic thing. It’s an opportunity to create a stand-alone company and in the process make a financial return on a good exit or an IPO down the line”.

Marco Cavicchioli
Marco Cavicchioli
"Classe 1975, Marco è stato il primo a fare divulgazione su YouTube in Italia riguardo Bitcoin. Ha fondato ilBitcoin.news ed il gruppo Facebook "Bitcoin Italia (aperto e senza scam)".
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