Stratumn Raises €7M To Fund Expansion Into US

Stratumn, the blockchain startup, has raised €7 million in a new round of venture funding. According to a report, the Series A funding round was led by CNP Ventures with participation from Nasdaq, Digital Currency Group and Otium Venture. More than a year ago, the startup raised €600k in seed funding, noted the report.

The venture capital funds are going to help the company expand into the U.S. Stratumn is based in Paris and offers a platform for the development of enterprise-type blockchain applications.

“We are very pleased to have successfully closed this Series A round, which represents a major milestone for Stratumn. Our new investors will enable Stratumn to continue and accelerate its development and more effectively address growing needs in our markets,” said Richard Caetano, Stratumn’s co-founder and CEO in the report.

For CNP Ventures, the arm of CNP Assurances, an insurance firm in France, it’s the first investment in a blockchain startup. In a statement, the insurer said Stratumn forms part of a strategy of investing in startups. CNP is committing €100 million to that effort. This marks the fourth startup investment the firm has made since launching the initiative.

Blockchain startups are getting a lot of attention from all sorts of investors in recent months. In April, Spotify announced its acquisition of blockchain startup Mediachain Labs. In this new venture together, the Mediachain Labs team will work to better connect artists and rightsholders with Spotify-hosted music tracks. With Mediachain Labs’ development of a decentralized peer-to-peer database, attribution engine and cryptocurrency, the startup was prime for a business transition like this acquisition.

Mediachain Labs uses blockchain technology to solve any attribution issues, which benefited Spotify’s licensing issue with the National Music Publishers Association (NMPA) last year. Apparently, Spotify had not put any mechanical licenses in place, which helps copyright owners maintain control over music distribution and royalty payments. To help alleviate any future music distribution and royalty problems, Spotify paid $25 million total.