Colu Mixes VC and ICO for $14.5 Million Fundraise

Blockchain startup Colu has secured $14.5 million in new funding from a major business group in Israel.

IDB Group

contributed the funds both toward the company itself as well as the token presale for its Colu Local Network (CLN), which it unveiled last month.

The company – Israel's largest holding company – is involved in the finance and insurance sectors, and the partnership between the two firms will focus in part on retail payments. In statements, IDB indicated that the results of its work with Colu could wind up in products and services offered through its various business holdings.

Sholem Lapidot, CEO of IDB Development Corporation, said of the deal:

"IDB believes that Colu will help to support the growth of blockchain technology as a [real-life] payment method. We strongly believe that crypto technology will play a key role in the future form of payment for goods and services and we are thrilled to be rolling out plans for increased innovation in our diverse industries, with the help of Colu."

The CLN token, according to Colu, is intended to be used as a basis for local transacting, while at the same time serving as a kind of reward for retail payments.

"Partnering with IDB group is a vote of confidence in cryptocurrencies and the role they could play in the retail market," Amos Meiri, Colu co-founder and CEO, said in a statement.

That work on localized currencies was highlighted last year when Colu raised $9.6 million from a group of investors that included Aleph, Spark Capital, Digital Currency Group and former Thomson Reuters CEO Tom Glocer.

Disclaimer: CoinDesk is a subsidiary of Digital Currency Group, which has an ownership stake in Colu.

Funding image via Shutterstock