Bitcoin mining companies raise $60 million in funding

BitFury, one of the most well-capitalized bitcoin mining companies, announced today that it has closed another $20 million funding round.

This round of financing is BitFury’s third in two years. As of now, the company’s total financing has reached US$60 million, which is twice that of its competitor KnCMiner ($29 million) and more than half of the total investment in the mining industry ($116.5 million).

In a statement, BitFury CEO Valery Vavilov said:

“Today, we are pleased to announce that we have secured a new round of financing of $20 million. The success of this new round of financing validates our business strategy and brings us closer to our ambitious goals.”

It is reported that the investors participating in this round of financing include The Georgian Co-Investment Fund, DRW Venture Capital and iTech Capital. Bill Tai, an investor who participated in the first two rounds of financing, confirmed the news. BitFury refused to confirm whether there were other investors involved.

Additionally, the company expects to launch its first Bitcoin mining light bulb sometime this year.

Industry Progress

BitFury, co-founded in 2011 by Vavilov and Valery Nebesny, has witnessed rapid and dramatic changes in the bitcoin mining industry.

As bitcoin mining becomes less profitable, the hardware company, which also provides hosting services, has shifted its core role to being the industry’s transaction processor. “The entire bitcoin ecosystem is our customer,” BitFury’s website states.

According to statistics, BitFury’s market share of computing power has tripled recently, and they are now responsible for processing more Bitcoin blocks than all private processors combined.

Don Wilson, founder of DRW Venture Capital, praised BitFury in a statement, saying:

“DRW invested in BitFury because of the impressive work of Valery Vavilov and the team that has become an industry leader in securing the blockchain business.”

16nm chips

In the transaction processing arms race, BitFury also faces off against KnCMiner, which recently announced plans for an 18,000 square foot air-cooled mining farm in the Arctic Circle that will run on the cheapest electricity in Europe.

Rather than operating in sub-zero air, BitFury’s new mine will use its “high-performance” 28nm chips, which will be cooled using emersion cooling technology from its subsidiary Allied Control.

Currently, BitFury’s data center is built with the help of the Georgian Joint Investment Fund and is located in Gori in eastern Georgia.

Based on BitFury's product update rate of every six to twelve months, the company is likely to launch their 16nm ASIC chip later this year, with a power consumption ratio of 0.06 joules/G.