The Reinventure Group, an Australian-based VC firm focused on fintech, has made a strategic investment in Coinbase. Founded in June of 2012 in San Francisco, California, Coinbase is a bitcoin wallet and platform where merchants and consumers can transact with the new digital currency bitcoin. With a mission to make payments more open and efficient for the world, Coinbase enables the secure purchase and use of bitcoin for more than 2.3 million users internationally, has signed more than 40 thousand merchants and has 7000 developers that have built on its Toshi API platform. Reinventure co-invested alongside Union Square Ventures, Andreessen Horowitz, Ribbit Capital and DFJ Growth as well as the New York Stock Exchange and investing arms of leading bank innovators, BBVA and USAA.
One of Reinventure’s primary objectives is to create opportunities between its portfolio companies and Westpac, Reinventure’s largest investor. They plan to work closely with Reinventure and share insights into the use of digital currencies globally.
Westpac is keen to understand emerging trends, acquire know-how from great entrepreneurs and co-create in areas that can benefit from the complementary skill-sets both parties bring. The Reinventure Fund is operated independently by the managers, Danny Gilligan and Simon Cant, who are also co-investors in the fund. With $50M in committed funds, they have invested in a number of opportunities, including SocietyOne, Nabo, Zetaris and PromisePay.
