Crypto payments startup Bitwala raises $14.49M for global expansion

Germany-based cryptocurrency payments and banking services provider, Bitwala, has raised 13 million euros (~14.49 million) in Series A funding for global expansion.

The round is led by Sony Financial Ventures and NKB Group, with participation from existing venture capitalists Earlybird and Coparion, who contributed half of the Series, Bitwala announced Wednesday.

The investment will be utilized to gain new customers, expand the team, and start offering bitcoin accounts for businesses, the firm said.

Bitwala currently offers such accounts for retail customers, in an association with local fintech firm SolarisBank that has a banking license and is regulated. The service has seen “fast growth,” Bitwala said, reaching customers in all 31 countries of the European Economic Area (EEA) since launch in December.

“Bitcoin worth more than 11 million Euro have already been traded on Bitwala, an increase by 10 million Euro since February 2019,” the firm said, adding that about half of its customers reside in Germany.

“We will expand our teams across all business segments and are looking for talented and hungry individuals that are interested in building the future of finance together with us,” said Philipp Beer, chief growth officer at Bitwala.