Cryptocurrency mining technology firm Bitfury Group has just closed an $80 million funding round led by venture capital firm Korelya Capital.

Also participating in the private placement were investors such as Mike Novogratz's Galaxy Digital, Macquarie Capital, Dentsu Inc., Armat Group and others, according to a Bitfury press release. Advising Bitfury on the funding was investment bank Bryan, Garnier & Co..

George Kikvadze, Bitfury's executive vice chairman, said in the release:

"With a half billion dollars in revenues, Bitfury is the leading blockchain B2B global technology infrastructure provider at the corporate and government level. This private placement will take our corporate governance to the next level, broaden our financial strategic options, and ideally position us for our next phase of growth as the market matures."

Bitfury is best known for manufacturing processors and devices used for mining cryptocurrencies, and launched a new "Clarke" ASIC chip for bitcoin mining in September. It said at the time it plans a new range of miners based on the processor.

The firm also capitalizes on its mining tech business by running crypto mining datacentres in countries such as Canada, Norway, Iceland and the Republic of Georgia. The new Clarke chip will being installed across these facilities as well, the firm indicated.

The funding round after Bitfury was said to be eyeing going public via an IPO as a way of raising funds in late October. A news report at the time suggested the firm might list in Amsterdam, London or Hong Kong, possibly as soon as next year, though a final decisions hasn't been made.

Its biggest rival in the crypto mining space, Bitmain, launched a prospectus for its planned IPO in September, though it has not been without controversy.

Discussing why his firm took part the funding round, Mike Novogratz, CEO and founder of Galaxy Digital, said, "We are impressed with Bitfury's unparalleled team, as well as the company's vision, technical expertise and global reach, all of which are essential to advancing the underlying bitcoin ecosystem."

Dollars and bitcoin image via Shutterstock