Bitcoin-Powered Marketplace OpenBazaar Raises $200k in New Funding

OB1, the startup behind the bitcoin-powered decentralized marketplace OpenBazaar, has raised $200,000 in new funding from investment firm Digital Currency Group.

OpenBazaar is an open-source marketplace protocol that acts like a kind of decentralized eBay, connecting buyers and sellers who use bitcoin rather than, say, credit cards. The marketplace first went live last April.

The startup said it has raised $4.2m to date following the DCG investment. In December, OB1 announced that it had raised $3m in a funding round led by Berlin-based VC BlueYard. Andreessen Horowitz and Union Square Ventures also backed that round after they took part in an earlier $1m round alongside angel investor William Mougayar.

With the raise, the startup is continuing to push ahead with plans to launch a new version of OpenBazaar later this year.

"OpenBazaar has seen steady growth since its launch just over a year ago," Brian Hoffman, OB1's chief executive, said in a statement, adding:

"The network represents important strides forward in peer-to-peer and blockchain technology and we are honored to have the kind of investment partners who also share our vision for bringing it to life."

Image via Shutterstock

Disclosure: CoinDesk is a subsidiary of Digital Currency Group.