--- title: Illuminate Financial's Investment in Fordefi description: We first got to know Josh Schwartz, CEO & co-founder at Fordefi in 2020 when we invested in crypto custody platform Curv’s Series A. Josh was COO at Curv and stood out as unique in a team of rockstars. Given his time at Bloomberg and subsequently, at BitGo (crypto custody platform), Josh had a clear vision of the demands of this new industry. image: https://blog.fordefi.com/hubfs/Nima%20Capital%20Fordefi-1.png --- [Skip to Content](https://blog.fordefi.com/nima-capitals-investment-in-fordefi#body) [![Fordefi logo- horizontal - color + dark](https://blog.fordefi.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Fordefi%20logo-%20horizontal%20-%20color%20+%20dark.png?width=154&height=25&name=Fordefi%20logo-%20horizontal%20-%20color%20+%20dark.png "Fordefi logo- horizontal - color + dark")](http://fordefi.com) Toggle Menu - [Product](https://fordefi.com/) - [Company](https://fordefi.com/company) # Illuminate Financial's Investment in Fordefi Read Time **1 mins** | Written by: Crest Saechao ![](https://blog.fordefi.com/hubfs/Nima%20Capital%20Fordefi-1.png) *Written by [Alexander Ross](https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexander-ross-676b327/), Partner at Illuninate Financial.* We're excited to announce our investment in Fordefi’s oversubscribed $18m seed round led by Lightspeed with participation from Illuminate Financial. Other investors in the round included Castle Island, DCG, Defiance Capital, Electric Capital, Jump Crypto, Pantera Capital, PayPal Alumni Fund, Microsoft, Nima Capital, and StarkWare. Fordefi have built the first institutional grade, highly secure DeFi wallet that enables its clients (financial services institutions) to seamlessly connect to dApps across a wide range of chains. We first got to know [Josh Schwartz](https://www.linkedin.com/in/josh-schwartz-9339654/), CEO & co-founder at Fordefi in 2020 when we invested in [crypto custody platform Curv’s Series A](https://medium.com/illuminate-financial/will-large-financial-institutions-adopt-digital-assets-we-think-so-88ce7c86da0d). Josh was COO at Curv and stood out as unique in a team of rockstars.  We are particularly excited to be working with Josh again as a member of the Illuminate portfolio and feel privileged to collaborate with such an impressive set of co-investors. To continue reading about Illuminate Financial's investment in Fordefi, please visit [Illuminate Financial's Medium](https://medium.com/illuminate-financial/our-investment-in-fordefi-an-institutional-grade-wallet-for-defi-4bb7767e528) page. ![](https://blog.fordefi.com/hubfs/Screen%20Shot%202022-10-28%20at%2011.28.17%20AM.png) ##### Crest Saechao Crest leads the Marketing team at Fordefi. She loves to take long walks along the bay front with her dog, Stella. Share the Love [mailto:?subject=Illuminate%20Financial%27s%20Investment%20in%20Fordefi&body=https%3A%2F%2Fblog.fordefi.com%2Fnima-capitals-investment-in-fordefi](mailto:?subject=Illuminate%20Financial%27s%20Investment%20in%20Fordefi&body=https%3A%2F%2Fblog.fordefi.com%2Fnima-capitals-investment-in-fordefi) Learn More About Fordefi ## News & Media ![](https://blog.fordefi.com/hs-fs/hubfs/FORDEFI%20X%20BABYLON.png?width=700&name=FORDEFI%20X%20BABYLON.png) Company News ### [Fordefi MPC Wallet Powers Next-Gen Bitcoin DeFi with Launch of Babylon BTC Staking](https://blog.fordefi.com/fordefi-mpc-wallet-powers-next-gen-bitcoin-defi-with-launch-of-babylon-btc-staking) Fordefi has revolutionized the industry by introducing the first institutional MPC wallet solution t... Keep Reading ![](https://blog.fordefi.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Aptos%20(1).png?width=700&name=Aptos%20(1).png) Company News ### [Fordefi Unlocks DeFi on Aptos for Institutions](https://blog.fordefi.com/fordefi-unlocks-defi-on-aptos-for-institutions) Expanding our support for non-EVM blockchains, Fordefi is excited to announce that our platform now ... Keep Reading ![](https://blog.fordefi.com/hs-fs/hubfs/BYO%20EVM.png?width=700&name=BYO%20EVM.png) Product Announcement ### [Fordefi Launches BYO EVM: New Self-Serve Blockchain Integration Feature](https://blog.fordefi.com/fordefi-launches-byo-evm-new-self-serve-blockchain-integration-feature) We're thrilled to introduce Fordefi’s latest DeFi feature: the ability to add new EVM-compatible cha... Keep Reading ![Fordefi logo- horizontal - color + dark](https://blog.fordefi.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Fordefi%20logo-%20horizontal%20-%20color%20+%20dark.png?width=155&height=25&name=Fordefi%20logo-%20horizontal%20-%20color%20+%20dark.png) Founded in 2021, Fordefi is the first and only institutional MPC wallet and security platform built for decentralized finance.   [Privacy Policy](https://fordefi.com/privacypolicy) |[Terms and Conditions](https://fordefi.com/termsandconditions)