Meld raises $7 million to integrate stablecoin networks, build the ‘Visa for crypto’
When a company wants to pay its employees in different countries using stablecoins, it encounters a roadblock: many countries use different stablecoin service providers. There is Yellow Card in South Africa, Onmeta in India, and so on. Pankaj Bengani, a veteran of payment giant Block, founded Meld in part to fix this issue. He is building a network that aims to be a one-stop shop for companies and individuals to access and convert digital assets globally.
The startup announced on Wednesday that it raised $7 million dollars in a funding round led by Lightspeed Faction, with participation from F-Prime, Yolo Investments, and Scytale Digital, which brings their total capital raised to $15 million. Bengani, the founder and CEO of Meld, did not disclose his company’s valuation in an interview with Fortune.
“It’s very fragmented—there are so many blockchains, there are so many stablecoins, there are so many payment methods,” Bengani said. “It’s ripe for one company to make it easier, and that’s what we want to do.”
When companies and individuals connect to the Meld network, they can buy or settle stablecoins, Bitcoin, Ethereum, or any other type of digital asset around the world. The network launched in 2024 and partners with over 50 providers—like Yellow Card and Onmeta—in more than 180 countries, working in over 150 fiat currencies, the company says. People can use the network for remittances and global payroll, among other use cases. In the same way Visa partners with banks around the world for the last mile of transactions, Meld aims to partner with global crypto providers.
There are two fintech giants, Stripe and Bridge, that provide on and off ramping of crypto. Bengani says that these companies only serve a select few countries, mainly European countries and the United States, whereas Meld is more global.
The startup generates revenue through transaction fees, although it did not disclose exact numbers. Meld said that it expects to at least quadruple its revenue from last year. It currently has about 15 employees.
Prior to founding Meld, Bengani worked at Square (as Block was then known) for about five years. There, he felt aligned with the company’s mission of financial inclusion, which he says it accomplished by helping small businesses. He takes those same values to Meld, where he believes he’s promoting financial inclusion by providing people access to crypto at a global scale.
“It’s fun to make money and feel like you’re making the world a better place, as corny as that sounds,” he said. “If you can give financial access to people on these new rails, that’s pretty cool.”
This story was originally featured on Fortune.com