Andalusia Labs, a blockchain security solutions firm, has raised $48 million in a Series A funding round, achieving a valuation of $1 billion.

This significant financial milestone coincides with the company’s strategic decision to establish its global headquarters in Abu Dhabi’s Financial Center, Abu Dhabi Global Markets. This move reflects Andalusia Labs’ commitment to global expansion and recognises Abu Dhabi as a key financial hub for digital assets, offering a nurturing environment for innovation and growth.

The funding round was led by prominent investors including Lightspeed Venture Partners and Mubadala Capital. These investors were drawn to Andalusia Labs’ unique approach to addressing critical security challenges in the blockchain industry.

At its core, Andalusia Labs offers a suite of cutting-edge technology solutions designed to tackle prevalent security issues within the blockchain sector. This includes Karak, a revolutionary risk management infrastructure for digital assets; Subsea, a pioneering risk management marketplace; and Watchtower, an advanced institutional security platform. These products are pivotal in providing secure environments for a range of stakeholders in the blockchain industry, including institutions, developers, and consumers.

Karak, a key offering from Andalusia Labs, is a Layer 2 blockchain that introduces a novel approach to risk management in blockchain, Web3, and global financial services. It focuses on financial security while maintaining high standards in security, scalability, and affordability. Subsea, built on the Karak blockchain, is lauded as the world’s leading risk management marketplace for digital assets, offering an automated and transparent mechanism to protect against digital asset risks. Watchtower, still in private beta, aims to revolutionise market simulations with real-time, realistic models using actual data.

With the fresh capital injection, Andalusia Labs plans to expedite product development, strengthen institutional partnerships, and continue its global expansion. The company is actively hiring across various domains including finance, AI, cryptography, and security engineering.

In their joint statement, Raouf Ben-Har and Drew Patel, founders of Andalusia Labs, expressed their excitement about the future. “Blockchain is still in the very early innings, and we’re thrilled to have partners like Lightspeed and Mubadala who share our commitment and vision for building the premier risk management infrastructure for the world,” they said. “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.”

Shaun Lee, partner at Mubadala Capital, also shared his perspective: “We’re honored to build our partnership with Raouf, Drew and the Andalusia Labs team. The opening of their global headquarters in Abu Dhabi will catalyze their global scaling efforts and strategically position the company for unparalleled growth. We look forward to supporting them on the next chapter of their journey in shaping the future of blockchain and Web3 parametric risk management.”