Bitcoin Startup Acinq Raises $1.7 Million to Double Down on Lightning

Lightning isn't just a big hit with developers, the promising bitcoin technology is now attracting a little attention from investors.

Acinq, one of the leading startups working on the lightning network, a top-level layer aiming to boost the number of transactions bitcoin can support, has closed a $1.7 million funding round led by Serena Capital, with participation from Talend co-founder Bertrand Diard, Sebastien Lucas, Alistair Milne and Snapcar founder Yves Weisselberger.

As a result of the funding, Lightning Labs is no longer the only startup solely dedicated to lightning that's been able to rake in money for its efforts.

Since it launched a few years back, the Paris-based company has become one of the most pivotal in a broader push to build and design lightning. It has built Eclair, one of three lightning software implementations alongside those by Lightning Labs and Blockstream, as well as Eclair Wallet, the most popular lightning wallet to date.

Yet for all the startup has accomplished, it's all been done a small team of three. "Everything that we did was done with very little," Acinq co-founder and CEO Pierre-Marie Padiou said.