Blockchain startup Fluent raises $1.65 million

Fluent – a Lexington, KY.-based financial operating network that leverages blockchain technology – announced Tuesday morning it has raised $1.65 million in a series seed funding round led by Venture Capital.

Other investors who participated in the round include Digital Currency Group, Crosscut Ventures, Draper Associates, Fenbushi Capital, Lindberg Tech Fund and the St. Louis Arch Angels.

This latest funding brings Fluent’s total capital raised to $2.5 million, according to a press release. In November 2015, the company closed a pre-seed financing round led by Draper Associates with participants including Thomson Reuters, UMB Bank, 500 Startups, and SixThirty.

Back in March, Fluent unveiled its enterprise software platform called the Fluent Network. Backed by blockchain technology, the platform powers applications designed for international trade and the financial supply chain. The Fluent Network is built to mitigate risks and support new, transformative types of enterprise financial applications, such as supply chain finance, real-time B2B payments and a P2P working capital marketplace.

The startup also announced a partnership with Commerce Bancshares, a Forbes Top-20 U.S. bank based in Kansas City, MO. that has been a participant in the Fluent Network pilot project since February.

Fluent said in the press release that it will use the new funds to expand its engineering team, boost business development and widen its sales force to provide both banking partners and non-bank lenders a seamless platform for lending into international supply chains.

“We’re leveraging distributed ledger technology to drastically reduce risk, streamline and automate settlement, and connect previously siloed solutions in trade and the financial supply chain,” said Fluent CEO Lamar Wilson in the press release. “Building on and connecting parties on one frictionless financial fabric enables us to build solutions never before possible on antiquated, disconnected settlement rails.”

The company said in the release that as it continues to grow, it hopes to become the first supply chain solution for major enterprises to go live in the blockchain space.

Wilson said, “With this seed financing round, we’ll continue to execute on our vision of rewiring the world’s financial circuits to power long overdue improvements in trade finance and global commerce at-large. We look forward to working with additional banking and corporate partners to help create a new paradigm in trade and supply chain finance.”

Edit: A previous version of this news report said Fluent was based in St. Louis, MO. However, the St. Louis satellite office has moved to New York and Lexington, KY is now the headquarters. Thanks to Fluent co-founder and director of marketing Casey Lawlor for pointing it out.

Image via a press release CoinReport received previously