Italian Bitcoin Wallet Conio Raises US$3M at US$40M+ Valuation

Conio, an Italian startup providing cryptocurrency and blockchain services, has raised US$3 million in its Series A2 round at a valuation of more than US$40 million, the company announced last week.

Founded in 2015 in San Francisco by Italian natives Christian Miccoli and Vincenzo Di Nicola, Conio is a blockchain startup with offices in both the US and Italy that provides consumers with a mobile app called the Conio Bitcoin Wallet that allows them to purchase, sell, hold, send and receive bitcoins directly on their smartphone.

In addition to its consumer app, Conio’s solutions and digital wallets are also offered in white and private label versions to companies and banks. The company provides financial institutions, banks and insurance companies with integrated solutions for digital asset management, from digital wallets to manage cryptocurrency holdings, to the integration of blockchain protocols within cards and smartphone payment services.

Commenting on the fundraising, Christian Miccoli, co-founder and business development director of Conio, said the new capital will be used to further develop the company’s services offering to support its retail and corporate clients in the use of blockchain protocols and crypto asset management.

“Banks, insurance companies, enterprises and institutions may find in Conio today an even stronger partner to support their growth strategies in the new digital assets markets all over the world,” Miccoli said.

Additionally, the funding will allow Conio to ramp up its research and development activities in key industries including e-commerce, telecom, and smart insurance contracts, said Vincenzo Di Nicola, co-founder and technology director of Conio.

“In each of these markets, we are striving to be able to meet the growing demand of partnerships that we are getting from banks and insurance companies, enterprises and institutions,” Di Nicola said.

Alongside Conio’s two co-founders, the company’s other shareholders include Italian postal services provider Poste Italiane, which invested EUR 3 million in 2016 for a 20% stake in Conio. New shareholders joining in are Banca Finanziaria Internazionale, Fabrick, Boost Heroes, the Italian Angels for Growth network, David Capital, and several angel investors.

Fabio Cannavale of Italian venture capital firm Boost Heroes, said:

“Our mission is to support a culture of innovation in our country by making it easier for our startups and our conventional companies to engage with each other. Conio’s proprietary technologies make it possible to securely integrate the blockchain protocols the promise to disrupt whole areas of transactional activities.”