Almond Finance, a blockchain-based startup enabling cross-border funds transfers using mobile wallets, announced Monday it raised $2 million in a seed funding round led by Morningside Group.
The company uses blockchain technology, a network of cryptographically secured distributed ledgers, to connect financial institutions and users globally. Almond’s platform allows international money transfers between institutions no matter the currency.
Using Almond’s platform, financial institutions and businesses can enable real-time cross-border transfers of funds for users – even those without bank accounts.
“This milestone brings us closer to realizing our longstanding vision of making financial services more accessible and inclusive globally,” said Adam Swartzbaugh, chief executive of Almond Finance. “The interoperability our technology provides can change how money moves, creating a leap toward financial inclusion.”
Based in both Boston and Singapore, Swartzbaugh said that Almond intends to use the fundraise to increase its team size, drive product development and seek the compliance requirements for new markets.
Almond aims to serve three million customers across the U.S., Thailand, Cambodia, Malaysia and Singapore. The company is currently planning to open its first money transfer network corridor in the first quarter of 2022 with its initial focus on Southeast Asia and North America.
Almond said that it is in talks with potential partners in Thailand and Malaysia and is finalizing agreements with financial institutions in Cambodia. At the same time, the company is seeking out banks, neobanks and credit unions in the U.S. to link the two sides of the network.
Providing cross-border payments using blockchain technology has been a long-term goal using the technology. IBM Corp. first piloted one such network in 2017 using the Stellar blockchain, followed quickly by JP Morgan Chase & Co. using the Ethereum blockchain. As of October, even remittance company MoneyGram also uses the Stellar blockchain for cross-border money transfers.
Ordinarily, remitting across borders is a slow, cumbersome process that involves a great deal of paperwork, high-fees and passes through many hands for the transfer to happen. However, with the use of blockchain technology all of that can happen almost instantly between parties. The blockchain also records each transaction securely and privately in a way that can make compliance with local anti-money laundering and finance laws easier.
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