Our next chapter: Announcing our $12m Series A

I’m excited to share that we’ve raised a $12m Series A, led by Paradigm. Also backing us are Robert Leshner, founder of Compound, and our existing investors: Index Ventures, Creandum and firstminute.

It’s a big milestone in our mission to help people control and benefit from their digital assets and identity.

I wanted to take this opportunity to share some brief thoughts on how we got here, what the funding means, and where we’re going.

How we got here

We started Argent two years ago because we could see that crypto had the potential to be the future of money and the internet. Bypassing banks. Breaking down barriers. Exchanging money as easily as a message.

But.

Crypto had some major problems: Seed phrases. Gas. Windows 95 interfaces. It was too complex and too insecure.

So we built the first smart wallet. We used smart contracts to provide the ease of use and security of the best new bank apps — without the bank.

We removed seed phrases and gas, and introduced daily transfer limits, wallet locking, and one-tap integrations with Maker, Compound and Kyber.

We kept Argent invite-only so we could speak to as many people as possible and shape the wallet based on their feedback. We are massively grateful for the community’s early support and insights. We genuinely couldn’t have built Argent without you.

Once we got increasingly confident with the direction we knew it was time for the next step.

Our Series A

We went looking for our perfect partner. One that shared our vision for a decentralized future, a focus on creating products that empower people, and an appreciation that while the opportunity is massive, crypto’s in its early days and the road ahead won’t be easy.

Paradigm’s outstanding reputation meant they were top of our list. Their investments in decentralized exchange (Uniswap) and Layer 2 (Starkware) show their commitment to creating a new financial system.

We’re thrilled to have them on board and know their advice will be invaluable in the years ahead.

What’s next?

We’re going to make Argent the easiest and safest way to access all of DeFi. All of it.

We’ll work with Dapps to make onboarding as seamless as it is for the best-centralized apps today.

We’ll also soon remove the waitlist and have a full public launch. We’re excited about the chance to break down any remaining barriers to getting involved in crypto.

Security will continue to be our highest priority, and we’ll keep investing heavily in it.

Last, we’re growing the team. We work remotely (anywhere in Europe) and want to keep hiring the best technical talent on the continent. For the first time, we’ll expand the non-engineering side of Argent too. Apply here.