Ripple Labs Circling $30M in Funding

Ripple Labs, the developer of a Bitcoin-like technology that enables banks to transfer money internationally, is finalizing a $30 million funding round.

A spokesman for Ripple — formerly called OpenCoin — confirmed that the San Francisco-based startup is working on a new financing arrangement but declined to provide details, according to Venture Capital Dispatch. The report indicated that a person familiar with the situation said the deal places the post-money valuation of Ripple at about $100 million.

Investors in the Series A round will include Andreessen Horowitz, Google Ventures, IDG Capital Partners and other existing investors, the person said. Previously, Ripple has raised more than $3.5 million from a number of backers including Bitcoin Opportunity Fund, Camp One Ventures, Core Innovation Capital, FF Angel, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Vast Ventures and Venture51.

Similar to Bitcoin, Ripple has built a decentralized payments network that helps validate transactions using digital currency. Unlike Bitcoin, however, the company is positioning itself for use by banks and remittance providers, rather than consumers.

Ripple’s intent is to utilize the distributed verification systems that underlie digital currencies and can help speed up and reduce the cost of financial transactions. Down the line, there exists the potential for this type of distributed ledger system as a basis for all kinds of applications, not just currency.

While there exists a healthy potential for cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ripple — including as a system for improving the efficiency of payments and financial infrastructure — speculation has resulted in wild price variations. It is that volatility that has kept some would-be digital currency investors on the sidelines, even as others have forged ahead.