Blockchain-powered privacy web startup Nym Technology has raised $13 million in a funding round that puts its valuation at about $270 million. The round was led by venture capitalist Andreessen Horowitz (a16z Crypto) with Grayscale’s parent company Digital Currency Group, Huobi Ventures, Fenbushi Capital, HashKey, Tayssir Capital, and over two dozen others participating in this round. Nym aims to be the best fit for “bitcoin and Layer 2 solutions” and has plans to maybe even integrate its technology with protocols like Lightning Network, Nym CEO Harry Halpin said in an interview. The fresh capital will be used for new hires as Nym aims to expand its eight-member team to nearly 4x. It has already recruited former U.S. Army intelligence analyst and whistleblower Chelsea Manning, who leaked thousands of classified documents using the privacy software Tor. Amidst this, Nym’s co-founder George Danezis, also rejoined the project last month after briefly leaving the project to help design Facebook’s digital currency Libra (rebranded Diem). His other company Chainspace that he co-founded, was also acquired by the social media giant. Starting next year, Nym is also planning to give out grants to independent third-party developers. Just four months back, Polychain Capital led a $6.5 million investment in Nym, and before that, in 2019, Binance’s VC arm had led a $2.5 million seed investment in the privacy startup. “Encryption is becoming...
