Paris-based Ethereum staking infrastructure provider Kiln has closed a $17 million funding round to expand its institutional-grade offering internationally. The funding will also support more decentralized finance (DeFi) reward models.
The funding round was led by 1kx. Several prominent investors participated in the round, including Crypto.com, IOSG, Wintermute Ventures, KXVC, and LBank. Existing investors, including Kraken Ventures, GSR, and Avon Ventures, also contributed to the funding.
Thrilling start to 2024!
🚀 We have secured $17M in funding led by @1kxnetwork for our global expansion.
🌏 We are opening a new office in Singapore and are gearing up to provide exciting new features on our platform, such as DeFi rewards.
🙌 Huge thanks to our existing and… pic.twitter.com/R3lEnIF3ga
— Kiln 🧱🔥 (@Kiln_finance) January 18, 2024
Kiln’s Future Plans
Kiln plans to utilize the capital to support its global expansion efforts, particularly in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region, following the establishment of its regional headquarters in Singapore in Q1. The funding will also contribute to product development, with a focus on additional reward mechanisms in the decentralized finance (DeFi) space.
In late 2023, Kiln partnered with Ledger Live, Crypto.com, and Coinbase to provide pooled staking services, allowing every ETH holder to access staking with any amount of ETH. In alignment with Kiln’s mission of maximum inclusivity, these latest integrations continue to expand access to value creation in the digital asset ecosystem.
This latest investment brings Kiln’s total funding to $35 million from investors across various leading crypto investing groups, including Illuminate Financial, Kraken Ventures, Avon Ventures, Consensys, GSR, Leadblock Partners, Sparkle Ventures, XBTO, and renewed participation from existing investors 3KVC, Blue Yard Capital, SV Angel, and Alven, among others.
However, Kiln would not disclose a valuation for the round. The platform has seen significant growth, increasing its staked assets under management to $4.2 billion, marking a more than fivefold increase in 2023. Kiln has integrated with multiple custody solutions, wallets, and exchanges over the past year.
Kiln’s co-founder and CEO, Laszlo Szabo, stated,
“Our mission is to democratize value creation in the digital assets ecosystem, providing millions of users with easy access to rewards through our platform. We have an exciting lineup of products and upcoming expansion plans, including the establishment of an office in Singapore.”
The funding will also support further product development, including the integration of additional reward mechanisms in DeFi space. The platform is also working on a DeFi product that enables its integrator customers, such as wallets, exchanges, and custodians, to monetize stablecoin reward opportunities.
Kiln Is The Largest Ethereum Validator Node Operator with Over $3.1 Billion in Staked Assets
Kiln’s white-label staking technology platform brings together stakers, node operators, and integrators with multiple applications. The platform has been growing steadily over the past 12 months. Since its launch, Kiln has cemented itself as one of the largest staking platforms in the market and is now the largest operator of Ethereum validator nodes, representing about 4% of the Ethereum network.
While it supports multiple proof-of-stake blockchains, the majority of Kiln’s staked assets are on Ethereum, totaling over $3.1 billion. The platform uses specialized smart contracts to enable users to stake smaller amounts and pool stakes collectively to reach the 32 ETH minimum required for native ether staking, providing an alternative to traditional options.
In 2022, the platform completed a $5 million funding round, which included Third Kind Managing Partner and Andreessen Horowitz board partner Shana Fisher, SV Angel, Blue Yard, Alven, and Kima Ventures.
Notably, the funds were used to bring on new talent, enhance its technology, and build out its service, which enables fintech, crypto companies, and financial institutions to offer 1-click staking of crypto assets to their customers or to stake their crypto assets directly with Kiln.
In September, Coinbase Cloud integrated Kiln’s on-chain staking protocol to offer native ether staking below the 32 ETH minimum. This integration addressed the prohibitive barrier to entry for many potential participants.
Kiln plans to broaden its technology platform’s compatibility to support additional consensus models and DeFi revenue streams beyond pure staking. Delegated proof-of-stake networks like Cardano or reward-bearing liquidity pools across Ethereum may soon fall under Kiln’s infrastructure umbrella.