A听startup听aiming to make听cryptocurrency听more accessible听and useful听through its听鈥楶ayPal for crypto鈥櫶齭ervice听has raised听拢7.2听million.听
Ramp听was founded in 2017 by CEO Szymon听Sypniewicz听and CTO/CPO听Przemek Kowalczyk to听open up听digital assets to more businesses and users.听听
Until now, cryptocurrencies have largely been the reserve of enthusiasts, not everyday people, and have centred around crypto听exchanges such as听Coinbase and听eToro.听
These services let customers exchange fiat money 鈥� such as euros, pounds sterling or dollars 鈥� for cryptocurrencies and other crypto assets. However, they are built for users who want to speculate on the prices of crypto assets and buy, hold and sell coins.听听
This is an extremely narrow听remit which Ramp says fails to address the potential and power of crypto.听
To听solve this, Ramp has built a non-custodial, full-stack payment infrastructure. Through its听software development kit (SDK),听it says听any brand or partner who wants to offer crypto-enabled services as part of their business model can听do so easily and securely.听
Ramp鈥檚 own听certifications and licences听are used. It says that in the same way听that听PayPal revolutionised eCommerce and online payments by allowing any website, app or service听to embed payment infrastructure into their existing systems, Ramp is set to have the same impact for crypto assets.听听
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Ramp is听registered with the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) as听a听cryptoasset听business and is registered as an听open banking business with The Polish Financial Supervision Authority (KNF).听
The听company has already partnered with more than 200 developers, including Mozilla, Opera Labs, Dapper Labs (the company behind NBA Top Shot and the new Flow blockchain),听Sorare听and top crypto and听DeFi听apps like听Aave, Argent and Zerion.听听
The seed round was led by听NfX听with Galaxy听Digital. It also saw participation from returning听investors听Seedcamp,听firstminute听capital and Fabric Ventures, as well as Mozilla, plus notable business angels associated with Coinbase (Balaji S. Srinivasan), Wise (Taavet听Hinrikus), Dapper Labs (Roham听Gharegozlou), IKEA (Bartek Pucek) and more entrepreneurs听and executives from fintech and crypto industries.听听
It will use the funding听to further expand this network of bigger and better partners; reach more brands and make crypto less niche and exclusive. This includes tripling the team by the end of 2021, setting up headquarters in new regions, and developing the platform further.听
鈥淔ew听things are as impactful on economic growth, the human effort, and technological innovation as financial services,鈥澨齭aid听CEO听Sypniewicz.听
鈥淚f we鈥檙e to continue to grow as a society, we need to make sure our financial systems are following suit.听听
鈥淐rypto is one of the most promising technological听frontiers for advancing finance and payments. For years however, the industry was focused on speculation, creating products like crypto exchanges.听听
鈥淯nlocking crypto鈥檚 use cases seemed like an afterthought. Now we feel it鈥檚 time for the industry to start delivering听useful applications and Ramp is here to make the mainstream transition to crypto much easier.鈥澨�听
Morgan Beller, General Partner at听NfX, added:听“It’s听a matter of when, not if, non-crypto-native users are going to use crypto-native products. The question of听鈥榳hen鈥櫶齞epends on usability.听听
鈥淭o date, crypto products have had a high barrier to entry – you听have to basically go through a Rube Goldberg machine to use听many products. Mainstream users are not going to do this.听听
鈥淭hat’s what excited us about Ramp. Ramp dramatically reduces the crypto barrier to entry for both non-crypto-native users and non-crypto native developers.听听
鈥淲e see Ramp, therefore, helping to meaningfully听accelerate crypto adoption through enabling mainstream use cases.”听听
Cryptocurrency