Market Maker Keyrock Raises $72M from Ripple, And Others in Series B Funding

Keyrock has raised $72 million from Ripple, SIX, and Middlegame in its Series B Funding round.

Congrats on the news! Looking forward to our continued partnership. https://t.co/BrzqDhqKPN

— Ripple (@Ripple) December 1, 2022

Brussel-based digital asset market maker Keyrock has concluded its Series B funding round, with a whopping $72 million raised from investors including leading technology company Ripple; the venture capital arm of SIX Group, SIX FinTech Ventures; and fintech venture capital firm Middlegame Ventures.

The funding, which was closed in September, comes two years after the conclusion of its seed round in October 2020, as led by investors including Middlegame Ventures and SIX. Keyrock will use the fund to boost several crucial engagements such as scalability tools; development of infrastructure; and pursuing regulatory licensing in several jurisdictions, including the United States, Singapore, and Europe; says CEO Kevin de Patoul.

Despite concluding the round two months back, Keyrock’s recent announcement has been strategically set at a point within the cryptocurrency scene when most entities would look to market makers for liquidity provision, especially considering the collapse of Alameda Research, which left a vacuum within the space and a contagion of a liquidity crisis.

Keyrock, which had some of its assets in the custody of FTX, took the precaution of moving most of its funds from the exchange the same week the CoinDesk article, which exposed the platform’s liquidity crisis, surfaced. The market maker still had some funds on FTX upon its collapse, but CEO de Patoul noted that it was an inconsequential amount that would not affect the firm’s operations.

“The new round of funding allows us to dramatically accelerate executing our vision to provide liquidity solutions for all digital assets […] doubling down on our focus on clients and scalability, we will be looking to expand into new markets with targeted services,” Keyrock Chief de Patoul remarked, speaking on the development.

“We believe Keyrock will establish itself as one of the top-tier liquidity solution providers for digital assets not only in Europe but globally,” commented Andreas Iten, Head of Corporate Ventures at SIX, and co-founder of F10 FinTech Incubator.

Keyrock’s Massive Growth Since 2017

Founded in 2017 by Juan David Mandieta, Jeremy de Groodt, and Kevin de Patoul, Keyrock began with a vision to provide liquidity to digital assets and markets through its efficiently scalable algorithmic technologies. Having launched in the Belgian city of Brussels, Keyrock has secured a space in the United Kingdom to set up offices in countries such as Singapore and Switzerland in early 2023.

The firm seeks to support digital asset brokerages, exchanges, and tokens with liquidity provision, having so far provided its liquidity support to over 85 entities within the space since 2017, with an extension to 200 new market scenes within the past year.

Keyrock’s trading volume has also surged by over 300% YoY with a double increase in its global staff to 100, indicating its expanding reach despite the prevalent Crypto Winter. The firm is seeking to increase this value by two times in 2023.

The digital asset liquidity provider’s previous funding round was concluded in October 2020, led by SIX and Middlegame. Keyrock secured up to €4.3 million after the round.