Fintech infrastructure and crypto custody firm Prime Trust is planning a major expansion of its services after a $64 million Series A, the firm announced Wednesday.
Calling it an âinstitutional round,â CFO Rodrigo Vicuna said the funding will help five-year-old Prime Trust court opportunities across the fintech landscape â not just crypto.Â
Prime Trust provides payment, settlement, know-your-customer and liquidity APIs that Vicuna said covers âthe full infrastructure stackâ for fintechs like neo-banks and crypto exchanges.
The round was led by Mercato Partnersâ growth equity fund, Traverse. Nationwide, Samsung Next, Kraken Ventures and Seven Peaks Ventures also participated, with Seven Peaksâ Tom Gonser and Mercatoâs Zane Busteed joining Prime Trustâs board.
Nevada-based Prime Trustâs Series A comes as crypto companies of all stripes race for a claim of frenzied venture capital. Startups are scaling while money is cheap under the belief that demand for their services will, with crypto, only grow.
Vicuna said Prime Trust has grown 448% year-over-year and is now projecting an annual revenue run rate (an estimate of future revenue based on past performance) of $100 million. He said revenue has doubled every year since Prime Trustâs custody wing launched in 2017.
Vicuna said Prime Trustâs âplug and playâ APIs are an âexplosiveâ and central part of the business, with 250 million calls by clients including Binance.US, Kraken, Bittrex and Strike per month.
âEvery API ping is a client wanting to use our platform for a specific thing,â Vicuna said.Â
The company is now planning to delve deeper into the alternative investments space through tie-ups with neo-banks and registered investment advisors. The funding will help Prime Trust hire teams and add systems, Vicuna said.
âThereâs not a department in the company that doesnât have agressive hiring plans right now as a result of this funding,â Vicuna said.