The venture arm of the UAE capital’s sovereign wealth fund ADQ has led a $16 million investment in Paris-headquartered crypto wallet technology firm Dfns during a Series A funding round, which also drew capital from public investment bank Bpifrance and several other backers.

Other investors include Motive Partners, Wintermute, and Motier Ventures (Galeries Lafayette Group), along with existing supporters such as White Star Capital, Hashed, Semantic, Techstars, and others, according to a statement issued by Dfns on Tuesday.

Simplifying the crypto game

Dfns offers “wallets-as-a-service,” enabling fintech companies to manage digital assets in a way that fits into the growing adoption of cryptocurrencies.

This behind-the-scenes infrastructure supports banks, payment apps, and other financial institutions in navigating the complexities of crypto, making it easier for them to integrate digital currencies into their services.

The company’s service allows fintechs to integrate crypto without building complicated security systems from scratch.

This funding round for Dfns, which brings the company’s total raised capital to $29 million, will help the startup expand its wallet-as-a-service offering and deepen its institutional partnerships across the EU, UK, US, and UAE markets.

“Our focus is clear: driving adoption across banks, neobanks, payment services, trading platforms, investment applications, tokenization projects, government and corporate treasuries, as well as fund administrators, with a strategic emphasis on the EU, UK, UAE, and US markets,” the company said in its statement.

Further Ventures, an Abu Dhabi-based firm, focuses on co-creating and supporting ventures from ideation to exit. Established in 2022 with backing from the Abu Dhabi holding company ADQ, the fund supports start-ups in digital assets, FinTech, and the supply chain sector.