Secure Messaging App Wickr Raises $30 Million Series B

Self-destructing and encrypted messaging app Wickr raised $30 million in Series B funding, the company is announcing today, in a round led by Jim Breyer, founder and CEO of Breyer Capital, with participation from CME Group and Wargaming. Breyer will now join the company’s board.  The new round comes on the heels of Wickr’s $9 million Series A announced earlier this year.

The app, for background, was created by CEO Nico Sell, also co-founder of the DEF CON security conference, as a tool that allows senders and receivers to communicate privately. Only the receiver is able to decrypt the message after it’s sent, as the company itself does not hold the decryption keys.

Security and privacy are popular topics in this post-Snowden era, where a backlash against mainstream social services is finding new footing with those of a younger generation, as well as those wanting to protect themselves from overzealous ad-targeting or even in some cases, totalitarian government regimes.

Wickr also resells its technology to other messaging apps who want to include a more private and secure component to their service. Meanwhile, the company’s new strategic investors Wargaming and CME Group see Wickr’s potential in their own industries, gaming and financial services, respectively.