SAN FRANCISCO:-
AFP Symphony, a financial industry messaging startup, has announced that it has raised $100 million in a new round of funding from backers that included Google. An encrypted messaging platform launched by the year-old company has become a fast-growing rival to a service offered by Bloomberg. Google was joined in the new funding round by Swiss bank UBS, French banks Natixis and Societe Generale, and venture capital firms Lakestar and Merus Capital, an existing investor, according to Symphony.–AFP

The new funding was reported to up Symphony’s value to $650 million. The Silicon Valley-based company expected the cash infusion to power worldwide expansion and efforts to win more users, which the startup says currently number more than 40,000 in 100 countries.