Makor Group’s Valuation Rises to $200M after Series A Funding Round

A press release from Makor Group has indicated that the investment banking firm has raised a significant amount in its just-concluded Series A funding round, bringing its total valuation to $200 million.

In the press release, the investment banking firm, with a growing business in crypto, did not disclose the actual amount raised in the funding round. However, an insider hinted that the firm generated around $17 million in equity capital.

As contained in the release, the cash raised would be channeled into Makor’s crypto brokerage subsidiary, known as Enigma Securities, to expand the business. According to information, the Enigma securities had settled over $2 billion trading volume within the year. Aside from the Enigma securities, some part of the fund would also expand the Makor itself, internationally and for acquisitions.

This funding round saw the investment of Algorand, a blockchain organization, and Alan Howard, a British billionaire, that both became the new strategic partners of Makor. Among other strategic partners not mentioned are some asset managers from the United States.

“The capital raised will support the expansion of Enigma Securities, Makor’s industry-leading digital asset brokerage with monthly trading volumes in excess of $2 billion, as well as further Makor’s geographical expansion and M&A activities,” wrote the company.

While explaining the rationale behind the strategic partnership with Algorand, Makor detailed in the press release that it wants to tap and utilize from blockchain expertise of Algorand to build and distribute digital assets. Most importantly, to increase institutional exposure to crypto products.

Michael Halimi, co-founder and CEO of Makor, said in a statement that now they “are witnessing an unprecedented shift in our industry powered by technology and innovation. Over the past year, the exceptional growth in our digital asset division has clearly demonstrated that we are at the forefront of this trend.”

It is worth adding that in recent times, interest in cryptocurrency has grown higher, mostly from institutional investors. Aside from that, many billionaires have also taken advantage of the 2021 bull run, this has led to the continued interest from many big-bag investors who are looking to tap into the nascent space.

One such is Alan Howard, who has been pushing the bulk of his funds into crypto this year. He has investments in several crypto-related firms, such as Copper, Bullish Global, Bottlepay, and Ledn, as well as in Dan Tapiero’s 10T fund and One River Digital Asset Management.

Howard is the owner of Elwood Technologies, a software business that helps banks and fintech firms to access crypto liquidity through an API.