currencies, money Blockchain payments startup Align Commerce has raised $12.5m in Series A funding led by storied Silicon Valley investment firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers (KPCB). Rounding out the all-star cast of investors were first-time and repeat firms including Digital Currency Group , FS Venture Capital, Pantera Capital , Recruit Ventures Partners and SVB Ventures, the investment arm of Silicon Valley Bank. Founded by Marwan Forzley, a former Western Union general manager, Align Commerce is seeking to disrupt the small business (SMB) cross-border payments market, one it believes is characterized by high costs and poor customer experience. Prior to joining Western Union, Forzley was the founder of eBillme , a payments startup acquired by the remittance giant. Forzley told CoinDesk: ”We believe cross-border payments are broken, and using new technology to help reduce some of that friction, that’s where we use the blockchain, that’s where we get the benefits of a global payments rail.” With this focus, Forzley asserts the product improves over traditional wire transfers for cross-border transactions as it reduces forms and fees with its solution, alongside other benefits. "We simplify a painful experience by allowing SMBs to enter their bank account and email address and send the money to the receiver," Forzley said. "The whole experience is fundamentally different than wire, it’s designed to dumb down the whole cycle." The new funding, which follows an undisclosed seed round in April, will be used to expand Align’s service beyond the 60 countries it serves today. Forzley declined to provide details such as the current volume transacted by the company, but suggested the funding round is proof of its success in building its business. The funding round comes amid an overall downturn in industry investments that began in Q3 but has so far extended into Q4. At […]
