Blockchain Startup SIMBA Chain Secures $25 mln in Series A Funding

SIMBA Chain, a blockchain startup based in South Bend Indiana, has raised $25 million in Series A funding to make blockchain more accessible.

The round was led by Valley Capital Partners and counted with participation from major investors like Notre Dame Pit Road Fund, Elevate Ventures, Stanford Law School Venture Fund, and individuals affiliated with Kohlberg, Kravis & Roberts (KKR), Amazon, Apple, Facebook, SpaceX, Gap, Estee Lauder, AppLovin, Microsoft, Moelis & Company, Stanford University, and the Golden State Warriors.

Blockchain technology has grown in adoption among corporations and independent developers, a trend that has been boosted by the popularity of cryptocurrencies. This has resulted in increasing interest from investors looking to fund the next big thing in the crypto space. Steve O’Hara, managing partner at Valley Capital Partners of Menlo Park, California, said about the firm’s participation in the round.

“Since its founding in 2017, SIMBA Chain has distinguished itself by solving the incredibly hard problem of making blockchain technology, which is inherently complex and difficult to master, accessible to literally anyone who wants to realize the advantages blockchain has to offer. Thanks to the intellectual depth and insatiable curiosity of its team, SIMBA Chain has succeeded in establishing impressive beachheads in the defense and enterprise markets – a rare thing to see in emerging frontier technologies like blockchain. We are excited to support SIMBA Chain at this pivotal time.”

Since its founding, the startup has raised $28.5 million in funding to reduce the barriers preventing new developers from harvesting blockchain technology, as well as reduce energy usage. Simba Chain was incubated at the Univesity of Notre Dame as a project designed to make different blockchain networks more accessible in a variety of ways, eventually turning to Web3 smart contracts. Joel Neidig, SIMBA Chain CEO and co-founder, referred to the startup’s technology by stating:

“Demand for our Web3 smart contracts platform has accelerated across all of our markets much quicker than we anticipated. Users across multiple spectrums have embraced and validated the SIMBA Chain model, which simplifies development of smart contracts. The market has also responded positively to our support of multiple blockchains, including Ethereum, Avalanche, RSK, Stellar, and many others, making SIMBA Chain-based applications simple, highly portable and sustainable.”

The blockchain startup said it was planning to use the funding to scale its sales, marketing, and development efforts while also allocating resources to emerging enterprise-level opportunities to capitalize on the Non-Fungible token craze.