Damisa, a cross-border payments platform from Volt co-founder Jordan Lawrence, has secured a £2.25m pre-seed round.
Specialising in cross-border transactions, Damisa’s platform is focused on logistics, real estate, travel and education use cases for international transfers.
Lawrence co-founded open banking payments fintech Volt, worth $350m, in 2019, before launching Damisa earlier this year alongside former Kraken executive Maximilian Marenbach and Agoda’s former head of fintech innovation Panos Dandolas.
“By implementing our smart wallets and orchestrating leading stablecoins for speed and security, Damisa will dramatically simplify escrow services and cross-border payments, delivering greater transparency to businesses operating internationally, especially in complex, emerging markets,” said Lawrence.
“We look forward to providing immediate, tangible benefits to customers across logistics, real estate, travel, and education sectors.”
The new funding will support the startup’s scaling as it looks to build out its product line, secure regulatory licences and go to market. So far, the company has obtained a VASP licence – which permits cryptoasset activities in Poland – and is at the late stages of securing an Australian Financial Services Licence (AFSL).
Leading Damisa’s pre-seed round is Fuel Ventures, the London-based VC which previously backed Volt.
“We’ve invested in Jordan before,” said Fuel Ventures managing partner Mark Pearson, “and are delighted to be working with him again.”
Pearson said: “The team has the experience, regulatory foundation, and industry understanding to make a significant global impact. We’re excited to lead their first round and support their ambitious growth trajectory.
“Damisa is uniquely positioned to fundamentally transform international payments.”
Additional funding for the round came from EWOR, Greyhound Capital and angel investor Mark Ransford.
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