Barclays, Ripple Back New Remittance Firm
In the latest cryptocurrency news, Ripple and Barclays’ tech accelerator have reportedly backed the $1.7 million round intended specifically for SendFriend. The latter, in particular, is basically a new remittance company that will use the digital currency called XRP in moving funds internationally. Apart from the two companies, there are also a couple of investors who have joined the funding.
Funding Success
The news was announced on Monday and suggested that the New York-based company revealed the other investors of the aforementioned funding round. For starters, there is the Mastercard Foundation and MIT Media Lab. It also includes the biggest names in the industry, such as 8 Decimal Capital, 2020 Ventures, Mahindra Finance, and Techstars.
Barclays is believed to have obtained a stake via its accelerator program called “Barclays powered by Techstars.” The latter is where SendFriend, the remittance startup, was successful in getting accepted September of last year.
The money raised will be used for hiring staff, as well as putting the utmost focus on community engagement and sophisticated marketing. This was further described by David Lighton, who is the co-founder and chief executive officer at SendFriend.
The aforementioned remittance company revealed that it was founded by none other than MIT. Its goal is to serve all overseas workers hailing from the Philippines, with the primary purpose of using digital currencies such as XRP and Ripple’s very own xRapid when it comes to cross-border settlements.
Targeting the Philippines
The startup laid out its plans of making this possible. Basically, XRP is going to be utilized as a liquidity vehicle intended specifically for cross-border payments. By doing so, SendFriend would have the ability to circumvent the corresponding banking system and, more importantly, convert USD to the said token to PHP or Philippine peso. All of these will be made possible in just minutes.
Although the company has yet to confirm a timeline, SendFriend plans to launch in New Jersey. However, the remittance firm said that it is going to be made available across different states in the U.S. – something that will be made possible through desktops and mobile apps.
Ripple recently confirmed that the aforementioned startup will take advantage of the XRP token. Lighton stated previously that the current corresponding banking system is not only slow and inefficient but also quite expensive.
During its funding announcement, the remittance startup revealed that it plans to offer at least 65 percent lower fees compared to the average in the industry. This will serve all international money transfers, as the blockchain technology tries to replace all frictions and fees of the current banking system.