Alta completes $47.5 million Series A funding round, led by Index Ventures

November 10 - According to Fortune magazine, Alta, a developer of Layer 1 blockchain for banks and large financial institutions, announced on Tuesday the completion of a $47.5 million Series A funding round but did not disclose the company's valuation. The round was led by Index Ventures, with participation from GV (Google Ventures), Blackbird Ventures, Square Peg, and Capital49. Previously, the company had completed a $32.5 million seed round, primarily backed by Australian fintech giant Airwallex. Airwallex is currently competing with companies like Stripe in the global payments market.

Alta CEO Loong Wang previously founded a crypto startup and sold it in 2021, then moved on to a second startup using quantum computing technology to assist drug discovery. After that, Wang returned to the crypto technology field and co-founded Alta with former Meta executive Catherine Porter. The company recently changed its name from Metal. Porter was previously involved in overseeing Meta's later-abandoned crypto business.

In an interview, Wang stated that although there are already many so-called Layer 1 blockchains on the market, he still decided to develop a new blockchain because he believes blockchain is the best technology for money transfers. He also pointed out that none of the existing blockchains provide a comprehensive set of privacy protection and compliance tools designed specifically for banks and other large financial institutions.