Blockchain, the London-based digital wallet startup, has received $40 million in venture capital funding.

The series B funding was led by venture capital firm Lakestar and GV, the venture arm of Google’s parent company Alphabet.

The company also counts Virgin, Richard Branson (Virgin Group) and Lightspeed Venture Partners among its existing investors.

The company creates digital wallets to hold cryptocurrencies. The wallets can function like a bank account by being stored on a hard drive or an online based service. They can also serve as a ‘vault’ that keeps its content secure offline.

In a blog post, Virgin Group founder Richard Branson wrote:

“I’m not sure if anybody knows exactly how emerging payment technologies are going to change the world for good in the long-term – I certainly don’t. But I’m convinced they are going to have a big, positive impact, and am excited about going on the journey.”

‘An industry leader’

The company wrote in a statement announcing the funding:

“As the market leader, you can expect us to make big, bold bets in research and development as well as further our expansion efforts globally. You can also expect new products aimed at allowing anyone to transact, save, or hedge digital assets with greater speed, efficiency and control.”

The digital wallets are based on blockchain technology, which records every transaction on every machine in the network.

Branson continues:

“Blockchain’s focus has been on building the most used and trusted wallet technology, enabling users to essentially act as their own bank. We think the wallet will play a pivotal role in this ecosystem and I see the business leading the way in a space that has the potential to disrupt the world of money and centralised institutions.”

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