Dfns

Dfns is a technology company.

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Updated: Feb 17, 2026 ·

Recent News & Mentions

Dec 1, 2024FundingDfns - Series A Apr 1, 2022FundingDfns - Seed Nov 1, 2020FundingDfns - Seed

Financial History

Dfns has raised $31.0M across 3 funding rounds. Most recently, it raised $16.0M Series A in December 2024.

Total Raised

$31.0M

Valuation

N/A

Funding Rounds Raised

Date	Round	Other Investors
Dec 1, 2024	$16.0M Series A	Entrepreneur First, Further Ventures, Kima Ventures, Motier Ventures, Outrun Ventures, Seedcamp, Pierre Lavaux, Rand Hindi, Roxanne Varza
Apr 1, 2022	$14.0M Seed	Kima Ventures, LocalGlobe, Logos Labs, Musha Ventures, Anh-Tho Chuong Degroote, Sequoia Capital, Chris Herd, Ian Hogarth, Mathilde Collin, Roxanne Varza, Tony Jamous
Nov 1, 2020	$1.0M Seed	305 Ventures, Outrun Ventures

Financial History

Dfns has raised $31.0M across 3 funding rounds.

Total Raised

$31.0M

Valuation

N/A

Deep Dive

High-Level Overview

Dfns is a Paris-based technology company founded in 2020 that builds a Wallets-as-a-Service (WaaS) platform providing secure, programmable digital asset wallet infrastructure for fintechs, neobanks, banks, and enterprises.[1][2][3] It enables the creation, embedding, and management of multichain wallets using advanced cryptography like multiparty computation (MPC) and threshold signature schemes (TSS), solving key management vulnerabilities in Web3 and programmable finance by eliminating single points of failure.[1][2] Dfns serves sectors including fintech, institutional banking, regulated custody, and tokenization, powering clients like ABN AMRO and Sphere with high uptime (over 99.95%), scalable operations for millions of wallets, and features like passkey authentication, governance APIs, and insurance coverage.[3][4] The company has raised $29.4M in funding, including a $16M Series A in 2024 led by Further Ventures, reflecting strong growth momentum in crypto infrastructure.[4]

Origin Story

Dfns was co-founded in 2020 by Clarisse Hagège and Christopher Grilhault des Fontaines in Paris, France, stemming from Hagège's experience with a token sale for IOV (later Starname).[1][2] During that ICO, investors backed out due to security risks with wearable hardware for key storage, prompting her to research key management solutions and discover MPC—a cryptographic protocol that decentralizes keys to remove single points of failure.[2] This insight led to Dfns' creation as a secure WaaS platform, initially targeting Web3 usability gaps in scalability and security as crypto adoption grew.[2] Early traction came from clients like Mt Pelerin and Polymath, with the company ranking 39th in the WE INNOVATE 500 2025 for its MPC-based infrastructure.[1] By 2025, Dfns had evolved into a cybersecurity-focused firm with bank-grade custody, launching innovations like biometric wallets and a new dashboard after five years of API-first development.[4][5]

Core Differentiators

Advanced Security via MPC and TSS: Uses state-of-the-art multiparty computation to decentralize private keys, preventing compromise with proactive controls, pentesting, audits, and insurance for crime, cyber, and errors—unlike traditional single-key wallets.[1][2][3]
Developer-Friendly WaaS Platform: API-first with mobile SDKs for instant multichain wallet deployment (50+ chains like Solana, Bitcoin), automated transactions, and a new intuitive dashboard for governance, policies, and asset management.[3][5]
Scalability and Reliability: Handles millions of wallets at high throughput with 99.95% uptime, enabling fintechs like Sphere for 24/7 payments and ABN AMRO for bank-grade protocols without downtime.[3]
Seamless UX and Compliance: Passkey-based, keyless authentication; bring-your-own-device support; granular approval workflows and quorums for institutional compliance, reducing seed phrase burdens.[2][3][4]

Role in the Broader Tech Landscape

Dfns rides the Web3 infrastructure and programmable finance wave, capitalizing on crypto's shift toward mainstream adoption amid $150B in past losses from wallet hacks, where secure custody is critical for banks and fintechs entering onchain operations.[1][2] Timing aligns with regulatory pushes for tokenized assets and institutional crypto (e.g., neobanks, custody), as blockchain scalability improves and multichain ecosystems expand.[1][3] Market forces like rising cyber threats and demand for embedded finance favor Dfns' MPC tech, which powers seamless integration into apps, influencing the ecosystem by setting standards for secure, scalable WaaS—adopted by players like ABN AMRO to build "strategic custody capabilities."[3] This positions Dfns as a key enabler of a "wallet-first Internet," bridging TradFi and DeFi while accelerating global Web3 builder velocity.[2]

Quick Take & Future Outlook

Dfns is poised to dominate WaaS as institutions scale onchain, with upcoming features like asset flow maps, policy builders, and customizable dashboards enhancing its control tower for digital assets.[5] Trends like biometric authentication, AI-driven governance, and tokenized real-world assets will shape its path, potentially expanding to more chains and enterprise verticals amid crypto's maturation.[2][4] Its influence may evolve from infrastructure provider to ecosystem orchestrator, powering the next wave of programmable money—turning early security frustrations into the backbone of secure, democratic finance, much like its founders' pivotal ICO moment.[2]

Sources

Frequently Asked Questions

How much funding has Dfns raised?

Dfns has raised $31.0M in total across 3 funding rounds.

Who are Dfns's investors?

Dfns's investors include Entrepreneur First, Further Ventures, Kima Ventures, Motier Ventures, Outrun Ventures, Seedcamp, Pierre Lavaux, Rand Hindi, Roxanne Varza, LocalGlobe, Logos Labs, Musha Ventures.