Japanese cryptocurrency startup Orb raises $2.3 million in funding

Tokyo-based startup Orb, which is also backing a new cryptocurrency management platform SmartCoin , has raised $ 2.3 million in seed funding.

Orb , formerly known as Coinpass , has received backing from a variety of investors including Japan’s leading venture capital firm SBI . This latest funding brings the company’s total funding to 324 million yen (about $ 270 ).

The company’s co-founder and CEO Masa Nakatsu , formerly Groupon Japan’s business development manager, told CoinDesk the funding will go toward a new version of Orb , which is currently in internal testing.

Nakatsu co-founded the startup in 2014 with Toshi Senoo , who was previously an executive at Maneo , Japan’s largest social platform , where he raised $ 140 million in funding between 2007 and 2013 .

In addition to SmartCoin , Orb has also launched a decentralized cloud computing system that leverages blockchain’s secure authentication technology. Citing Chain, Ethereum and 21 Inc are its main competitors, and Nakatsu said he sees Orb as a “ huge contribution to the cryptocurrency ecosystem . ”