Blockchain API provider Gem has closed a $7.1m Series A funding round, the company has announced.

The round was led by Pelion Venture Partners, with KEC Ventures, Blockchain Capital, Digital Currency Group, RRE Ventures, Tamarisk Global, Drummond Road Capital, Tekton Ventures, Amplify.LA, Danmar Capital and angel investor James Joaquin participating.

The investment brings the total for the Californian startup to $10.4m, with previous rounds raising $3.3m over the last two years.

As part of the deal, Ben Dahl, partner at Pelion Venture Partners, will now sit on Gem's board of directors.

Since launching a multi-signature API for bitcoin developers, Gem says it is now expanding its API to develop a modular platform for blockchain applications that can be applied across multiple industries.

"We believe blockchain technology will transform how people and companies interact," says Micah Winkelspecht, Gem's CEO and founder. "It will underpin entire industries and one day produce a blockchain economy that will form the underlying architecture of our daily lives."

As part of today's announcement, Gem said Scott Kriz, CEO of Bitium, has also been appointed to the board of directors.

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