ICONLOOP, a blockchain-focused company headquartered in Seoul, has secured KRW 10 billion (over $8 million) in Series A funding round led by the Venture Investment Center at Korea Technology Finance Corporation.
The round saw participation from a total of seven investment companies including T.S. Investment and marks ICONLOOP’s very first VC investment since its formation in 2016.
In its official announcement, the company said that it will now work towards the launch of its decentralized ID service, called ‘my-ID,’ and expansion of ‘my-ID Alliance’.
“I believe this investment shows that ICONLOOP’s blockchain technology and its marketability have been proven and the company would take the responsibility to boost the vitality of the overall market as a leading blockchain company in Korea,” Jonghyup Kim, CEO of ICONLOOP, said.
my-ID is a digital identity authentication service built on blockchain technology. It allows for ID authentication information (ID, monetary transfers, verification through mobile phones, etc.) to be saved to the user's mobile phone so that users can reuse said information to open further accounts or access other services that require identification.
Slated to be launched as a commercialized service in the first half of next year, my-ID was included in the 'Innovative Financial Services and Regulations Sandbox' in June.
my-ID Alliance currently counts 27 organizations and corporations from various fields including banks, security firms, e-commerce companies, and manufacturing companies as its members. ICONLOOP intends to expand the consortium to more industries such as fintech, e-commerce, sharing economy, and healthcare.
“We believe ICONLOOP acquired technological advantages and know-hows from many major projects with various financial and public organizations and it will lead the growth of the blockchain industry in Korea after it dominates the market with its my-ID service,” an official from the Venture Investment Center at Korea Technology Finance Corporation said.
ICONLOOP has developed and opened sourced ‘loopchain’, the first blockchain core engine in Korea. It has also launched CHAIN ID, a blockchain joint certification service with 26 domestic securities companies, Kyobo Life’s Smart Insurance Claim Service, and Seoul Standard Blockchain Platform.
The firm has also rolled out ‘DPASS’, a blockchain-based self-sovereign identity authentication service, and is building real-life application cases of blockchain.
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