Circle Internet Financial

Total VC to Date: $9m

Major Investors: Accel Partners, General Catalyst Partners, Jim Breyer

Boston-based Circle Internet Financial has grand designs on making bitcoin easy for the mainstream user. CEO Jeremy Allaire, who testified during the congressional virtual currency hearings, has come out as a figurehead for both bitcoin and its potential for it as a tool in financial services.

Circle Internet Financial's Jeremy Allair. Source: Business Insider
Circle Internet Financial’s Jeremy Allair. Source: Business Insider
While no specific product has been announced by Circle yet, the idea is to build a BTC-based product that is easy to use like Skype or email. But doing that is going be expensive for the company to pull off. Allaire has told CoinDesk that $2m of the $9m Circle raised will likely be spent on achieving regulatory compliance.