KAST, a financial technology platform built on a stable to deliver a neobank-style experience, has raised US$10 million in seed funding. The round is led by HSG (HongShan Capital Group) and Peak XV Partners. Several high-profile angels, DST Global partners, and Goodwater Capital also joined the round.
“For most countries and more than half of the world's GDP, banking does not match the openness and speed of the Internet, it is fundamentally broken. Stable is the clear solution, but the user experience was not good. We are building KAST to change this”, said Raagulan Pathy, Co-Founder of KAST. Pathy is a stablecoin expert, former VP for Asia Pacific & CEO for Singapore at Circle, famous for USDC.
KAST offers payment cards and USD-denominated accounts to people in more than 150 countries, the ability to receive and send money, and work with partners such as Bridge (recently acquired by Stripe). KAST will soon launch savings and other payment products – all without the need to touch fiat directly. The maturation of regulation and adoption of stablecoins has led to rapid integration with traditional financial networks, allowing users to send money faster, cheaper and more securely. KAST highlighted use cases such as keeping USD stable coins as an alternative to volatile currencies, allowing people to buy imports and travel with a card, and allowing remote workers around the globe to pay.
“The next generation of neobanks will be built on stable coins and fundamentally global with DNA. They will fundamentally differ from the current generation of neobanks, which are limited in countries due to licensing, and resistance in integrating blockchain; their core systems and capabilities are too different,” said Daniel Bertoli, co-founder of KAST and former Partner at Quona Capital, a global FinTech fund focused on investments in neobanks.
KAST has completed a $10 million seed funding round at an undisclosed valuation. Within its first four months, the company has shown strong early traction in terms of user adoption and revenue. The team sees this as a reflection of the huge global interest in their platform.
Stablecoins have experienced incredible growth with over US$170 billion in supply, and a trade volume of US$8.5 trillion in Q2 2024 with over 125 million users. Analysts predict by 2030; user numbers will exceed 1 billion and supply will exceed US$1 trillion.
“KAST delivers real benefits to global customers. Their USD-denominated accounts provide a safe haven for solid income when local currencies depreciate, especially for those who don't have access to traditional US accounts. As more digital nominators get paid in stablecoins, they can now bypass the legacy rails problem. International transfers that once took weeks can now be completed instantly and at almost no cost,” said Alex Svanevik (CEO/co-founder of Nansen.ai, early investor in KAST).
Consumers can visit the KAST website to learn more about KAST and discover how its innovative offerings can transform the financial experience.
Testimonials from card users
“I spent two weeks at the bank trying to open a simple savings account. They requested more than 10 documents (~100 papers) and had to sign and stamp each one. And I opened @KAST_official crypto card in literally 2 minutes. Why would anyone go after traditional cards anymore? If I don't need my bank statements for embassies, I would always use crypto cards like @KAST_official” – Mardeni.
“One tap to solve all my issues. That's all it took to get my KAST card. Here's a quick summary, I've been traveling a lot lately, and exchanging money has always been a problem. You usually lose 5-8% in the process by the time the money is in your hand. A friend of mine sent me a link and said, “Check this out!” Fast forward two months, and I've been tapping away a lot. Thanks to @KAST_official … I've used it across five countries over the past couple of months with no issues. It has made international spending and crypto usage very simple.” – Alpha Bets.
I used my card @KAST_official to pay for my project domain name and it worked fast all I had to do was fund it with Solana USDC, this is a game changer for me and something anything else I want to do with it” – Alex.
About KAST
KAST (https://www.kast.xyz/) is changing the financial technology landscape, by offering a seamless combination of stablecoin technology with traditional payment methods. The KAST platform enables USD accounts worldwide to 150+ countries, reaching over 5 billion people – offering a solution where banking falls short. The silky-smooth user experience takes mainstream openness, speed and stable security; KAST enables users to send, receive, save and spend money across borders efficiently.
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