PayPal has joined a funding round for startup Cambridge Blockchain, reportedly the first investment the online payments giant has made in distributed ledger technology.
Cambridge Blockchain helps financial institutions and other companies manage sensitive data through shared ledgers, with an emphasis on digital identity enterprise software.
"Our service helps streamline digital identity compliance while giving customers control over their identity data," Cambridge Blockchain CEO Matthew Commons said in a Tuesday press release. "We are honored by PayPal's vote of confidence, and we look forward to their support and guidance."
Though PayPal did not disclose its investment amount in the funding round,
PayPal did not announce the investment, but sent a statement to media outlets confirming the news.
"We made an investment in Cambridge Blockchain because it is applying blockchain for digital identity in a way that we believe could benefit financial services companies, including PayPal," the statement said. "Our investment will allow us to explore potential collaborations to leverage blockchain technology."
Other investors in the Series A funding round included Omidyar Network, Flourish, Foxconn's HCM Capital, Partech Partners, Future/Perfect Ventures and Digital Currency Group.
Cambridge Blockchain is headquartered in Cambridge, Mass., and has a European headquarters in Paris.
