Valora Separates from Celo, Raises $20M
- The mobile digital wallet built for the Celo network revealed it will be separating from its parent firm cLabs, and will now operate as an independent company.
- The new company also announced it has closed a $20 million Series A funding round led by Andreessen Horowitz.
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Valora, a mobile wallet built for the Celo network, has secured $20 million in a Series A funding round led by Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), Celo said in a press release published on 27 July.
Other investors that participated in the $20 million funding round include Polychain Capital, SV Angel, Nima Capital, NFX, Valor Capital, and others. Valora also announced it will be separating from cLabs — where it began as an in-house project —and will now operate as an independent company. The former head of consumer growth of Celo, and now CEO of Valora, Jackie Bona, said in a statement:
“Valora is lowering the barrier to entry into crypto and DeFi. We believe in a world in which each individual has access to the wealth and opportunity created by this new global financial system, and Valora will strive to continue to provide greater access and build bridges to a better and more inclusive future.”
Released in February, Valora is a mobile peer-to-peer payments and remittance app that enables its 53,000 monthly active users to send funds across 100 countries using its Celo Dollar (cUSD) stablecoin. The newly acquired funds will help the company develop new products and create educational content aimed at making “more people comfortable using cryptocurrencies”.
The same day that Valora was released, Celo revealed it had secured $20 million in a funding round from investors such as a16z, Greenfield One, and Electric Capital. Created as a decentralized stablecoin project focused on payments, Celo has now reached a total fundraising of $65 million, and is also backed by companies such as PayU and Deutsche Telekom.
- Through the acquisition, Fireblocks will be able to provide payment service providers with a new suite of tools for accepting digital assets.
- Although Fireblocks has had an institutional-focus so far, it will now expand into the business-to-business, business-to-consumer, and cross-border payments spaces.
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- Alchemy claimed the last six months have been incredibly profitable for the company, as it experienced a 15x increase in its revenues.
- The new funds will be used to expand access to its tools, build new educational resources, as well as open new offices in the U.S. and outside.
- The exchange became India’s top crypto unicorn after a $260 million Series C funding round led by Coinbase Ventures and a16z.
- The funds will help the exchange onboard new clients, and launch new products like lending and staking.