21.co has secured 25 million US dollars in a funding round led by London-based hedge fund Marshall Wace. The company with headquarters in the Crypto Valley in Zug and Zurich and offices in New York has now been valued at around 2 billion US dollars as a result. This makes it the largest crypto unicorn in Switzerland.
21.co was newly established as a parent company in parallel with the funding round. Its largest subsidiary is 21Shares, the world’s largest cryptocurrency product issuer. 21.co also includes Amun, a token issuer specializing in simplified access to the decentralized world of finance with headquarters in the Seychelles, and Onyx, the platform developed by 21Shares for issuing and managing its 37 crypto ETPs (exchange traded products).
According to a press release from 21.co, these investments were raised during the ongoing “crypto winter”. In spite of difficult market conditions, 21.co ended 2021 with a nine-figure revenue run rate and constant inflows were recorded during market downturns. Over the past financial year to September 2022, 21.co recorded more than 650 million US dollars in net new assets, and in November 2021 it hit a record high of assets managed amounting to 3 billion US dollars.
21.co was founded by Ophelia Snyder and Hany Rashwan in 2018. Hany Rashwan commented: “Now, we’re the highest valued and largest tech startup in Switzerland – and we’re still only in the early days.” Ophelia Synder added: “Our drive to revolutionize the world of crypto and build bridges into the asset class is only just getting started.”
