Mubadala-backed Andalusia Labs raises $48m and sets up Abu Dhabi headquarters

Latest funding round boosted the company's valuation to $1 billion

Andalusia Labs will establish its global headquarters at Abu Dhabi Global Market. Ruel Pableo / The National

Mubadala-backed Andalusia Labs, a provider of risk management infrastructure for digital assets, has raised $48 million in a new funding round while also setting up its global headquarters at Abu Dhabi Global Market.

The latest funding round, which has boosted the company's valuation to $1 billion, was led by California-based venture capital firm Lightspeed Venture Partners.

It also included participation from Abu Dhabi-based Mubadala Capital, the asset management subsidiary of $280 billion global sovereign fund Mubadala Investment Company, and existing investors Pantera Capital, Framework Ventures, Bain Capital Ventures and Digital Currency Group.

“This funding will enable us to continue developing the best-in-class products for our users that will unlock the potential of digital assets and drive innovation in global financial services around the globe,” said Raouf Ben-Har and Drew Patel, founders of Andalusia Labs.

The company, formerly known as RiskHarbor, aims to use the new funds to boost product development, support institutional partnerships and continue its global expansion.

ADGM, which is at the heart of Abu Dhabi’s efforts to increase the financial sector’s contribution to the emirate’s economy, has been attracting more companies to set up bases there.

Operational entities within the financial free zone grew by 35 per cent on an annual basis to 1,717 at the end of the third quarter this year.

The centre also boosted its workforce to record levels in the July-September period.

Andalusia said it is hiring across various divisions including finance, business development, artificial intelligence, cryptography, distributed systems and security engineering.

Setting up of the company's global headquarters in Abu Dhabi will strategically position the company for “unparalleled growth”, said Shaun Lee, partner at Mubadala Capital.

“We look forward to supporting them on the next chapter of their journey in shaping the future of blockchain and Web3 parametric risk management.”

Andalusia Labs offers technology solutions addressing the security challenges common in the blockchain industry.

“Financial institutions and blockchain companies grapple with the absence of robust risk management technologies to safeguard their assets … [Andalusia is] first to fill this gap by delivering mission-critical risk management infrastructure,” said Ravi Mhatre, partner at Lightspeed.

The cryptocurrency industry has been grappling with proper risk management and has been marred by various scandals and market meltdowns in recent years.

Last month, Binance founder and chief executive Changpeng Zhao was found guilty of criminal charges and resigned from his position as part of a $4.3 billion settlement with the US Department of Justice. The company admitted it had engaged in anti-money laundering, unlawful money transmitting and sanctions breaches.

Sam Bankman-Fried, the 31-year-old founder of the failed cryptocurrency brokerage FTX, was convicted last month of fraud for stealing at least $10 billion from customers and investors.