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CULedger raises 85 percent of initial funding for its credit union-focused distributed ledger platform

Ahead of schedule for Series A funding goal of $10 million

CULedger, a credit union-owned CUSO that focuses on delivering innovative applications to credit unions through its cross-border global distributed ledger platform, announced today that it has secured $8.5 million in Series A funding. This round of funding will continue through Nov. 18, 2018.

CULedger was developed out of one of the largest distributed ledger consortiums in the world and began as a research-to-action initiative to develop a working proof-of-concept, involving more than 30 credit unions and other industry organizations. CULedger found success in using distributed ledger technology to build a platform that enables credit unions to detect and prevent call center fraud and enable self-sovereign identity for members through its flagship product, MyCUID. CULedger became its own entity in June 2017 and plans to launch its pilot program later this year.

As a CUSO, the organization placed high importance on seeking credit union investors and to establish itself as a company for credit unions, by credit unions. CULedger set the goal of $10 million in Series A funding in October 2017 and has secured 32 investors, with more pending. The CUSO is well-ahead of schedule to meet its funding goal and has been unusually successful, with many startups struggling to meet Series A funding goals of $3 or $6 million. The majority of investors are credit unions, which attests to the practical industry application of MyCUID.

“Having received such a positive response from the credit union community in our efforts to deliver the first universal digital credential through self-sovereign identification, we realize the need for digital identity is widespread,” said John Ainsworth, president and CEO of CULedger. “With the support from our investors, CULedger is positioned to develop distributed ledger solutions for the digital identity crisis, keeping credit unions the most trusted financial institutions.”

CULedger’s investors are as follows:

  • America First Federal Credit Union
  • American Airlines Federal Credit Union
  • Baxter Credit Union
  • Black Hills Federal Credit Union
  • Citizens’ Equity Federal Credit Union
  • Coastal Federal Financial Group
  • Corporate Synergies, LLC
  • CULedger – Mississippi
  • CU Direct
  • CU Strategic Partners
  • CUNA Strategic Services
  • Deer Valley Credit Union
  • Desert Financial Credit Union
  • Digital Federal Credit Union
  • Farmers Insurance Federal Credit Union
  • Financial Partners Credit Union
  • FIS
  • HawaiiUSA Federal Credit Union
  • Meritrust Credit Union
  • Navigator Credit Union
  • Patelco Credit Union
  • PSCU
  • Redwood Credit Union
  • Royal Credit Union
  • SchoolsFirst Federal Credit Union
  • Sound Credit Union
  • Suncoast Credit Union
  • Town and Country Federal Credit Union
  • TruWest Credit Union
  • UNIFY Financial Credit Union
  • Virginia Credit Union
  • Wings Financial Credit Union

A group of the investors also includes CULedger – Mississippi, LLC, a CUSO created by the Mississippi Credit Union Association. CULedger – Mississippi enables credit unions to invest in CULedger through smaller contributions to form a collective investment. Current investors include Eagle Express FCU, Members Exchange, FCU, Mississippi FCU, MUNA FCU, Mutual CU, Pine Belt FCU, Rivertrust FCU, Statewide FCU and Triangle FCU.


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