Privacy Crypto Beam Gets Funding from 'Japanese LinkedIn' Recruit

Privacy-oriented cryptocurrency startup Beam has secured an undisclosed amount of funding from Japan’s equivalent to LinkedIn, Recruit Co., Ltd.

Recruit announced the news Monday, stating that the investment was made through its $25 million RSP Blockchain Tech Fund, which was set up last November. Beam confirmed the investment in a Tweet the same day, stating that Recruit invested prior to its mainnet launch last month, adding:

Recruit said the reason it backed the firm was because Beam provides a blockchain that prevents the exposure of transaction data to third parties, thus protecting user's information.

Beam went live back in January and became one of the first cryptocurrencies based on Mimblewimble, a protocol that makes transactions confidential and reduces the size of the overall blockchain. Since launch though, the project has faced some technical difficulties. Most recently, its network stopped for a a number of hours before operations were restored.

Through its RSP Blockchain Tech Fund, a venture between Recruit and its subsidiary Recruit Strategic Partners, Inc. (RSP), Recruit said it aims to invest in “promising” blockchain companies.

Besides Beam, Recruit has also invested in four other startups in the blockchain space, according to its website. These include crypto debit cards provider Shift Payments, blockchain identity startup ShoCard, blockchain payments provider Veem and Japanese bitcoin exchange BitFlyer.

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