Celo Secures $20 million From Investors In Funding Round
Open-source blockchain ecosystem Celo has announced that it raised $20 million in its latest round of funding. This was revealed in a press release on February 10, 2021, and will help expand its growing ecosystem.
$65 Million Raised Since Launch
Celo revealed that the startup had raised more than $65 million from several high profile investment ventures, including Polychain Capital, Reid Hoffman, Jack Dorsey, and Coinbase Ventures. The latest funding round raised $20 million and included new partners, including Andreessen Horowitz, Greenfield One, and Electric Capital. The startup further stated that the money raised would be used to develop new products.
Celo is a proof-of-stake blockchain built on Ethereum that focuses on supporting tokenized assets and stablecoins while using cell phone numbers to secure users’ public keys. Since its launch in 2017, the Celo ecosystem has developed and launched a mannet, a native asset, stablecoin, and mobile payment app. Also, Celo created a 50 member group in 2020 named “Alliance for Prosperity” to achieve financial inclusion.
As per the development, Rene Reinsberg, co-founder of Celo stated that the platform now has a rich ecosystem. “We now have the technology to create a better financial system – a rich ecology of digital assets and products that allow individuals and organizations to more seamlessly transact and manage risk,”
Electric Capital chief Avichal Garg echoed similar sentiments and added that the mobile-first philosophy was a significant boost for the Celo ecosystem. “A mobile-first philosophy means anyone can onboard into the Celo ecosystem quickly and with just a mobile phone number.
Celo Launches Global Remittance Platform
Celo also revealed the launch of its mobile remittance and p2p payments platform, Valora. The app development began in early 2020, followed by a testing and pilot phase towards the end of the year.
According to Celo, with Valora, users will be able to send and receive funds from anywhere around the world within seconds. Users will also be able to use the Celo stablecoin cUSD in Valora to pay for goods and convert the token to gift cards on Amazon, Starbucks and Walmart
The app is built on the Celo blockchain and features little to no transaction fees. Since its beta launch in September 2020, Valora has seen exponential growth and adoption, with tens of thousands of users, across more than 100 countries performing transactions.
