Singapore, June 9, 2022Request Finance, the Web3 enterprise crypto-payments startup, has closed a $5.5-million seed round with institutional backers, including Animoca Brands, Balderton Capital and XAnge.

The seed round also attracted a star-studded lineup of Web3 founders, including The Sandbox co-founder and chief operating officer Sebastien Borget, Fantom CEO Michael Kong, Aave founder and CEO Stani Kulechov and StakeDAO founder Julien Bouteloup.

The fresh round of capital will help the company expand its in-app services and grow its team to capture a greater share of the growing crypto-payments space. According to a report from blockchain data platform Chainalysis, the global volume of cryptocurrency transactions grew to $15.8 trillion in 2021 — 567% from 2020.

Yat Siu, executive chairman and co-founder of Animoca Brands, said, “The services provided by Request Finance allow Web3 projects — including some Animoca Brands companies — to save time and effort on crypto payments. We believe the company has a significant potential for growth and expansion.”

Simplifying enterprise crypto payments

Since launching in January 2021, a whopping $203 million in crypto invoices has been paid on the app. Today, Request Finance simplifies and automates invoicing, expenses, payrolls and accounting in crypto for more than 2,000 Web3 teams. 

Borget said, “We’ve been looking for a robust solution to enable crypto payments for the hundreds of invoices, salaries and various expenses generated through our activity each month. Request Finance has been the go-to solution that delivered above our expectations and scales as The Sandbox keeps expanding the open metaverse.”

It started with a simple idea: Give businesses a better way to pay, and be paid, in crypto.

The founders saw serious problems to be solved before more businesses could start using crypto. For one, making crypto payments by copying and pasting wallet addresses from a spreadsheet is laborious and frightfully vulnerable to human error. Also, keeping proper financial records of crypto transactions was an accountant’s nightmare.

To address these issues, the team built a suite of enterprise-friendly features such as on-chain payment confirmations, automated crypto billing and payments, and integrations with accounting software such as Xero. The self-custodial platform currently supports more than 150 tokens and stablecoins on 14 different chains. 

Addressing the common challenges faced by companies using crypto has attracted many users from different Web3 verticals. Notable names include decentralized finance (DeFi) companies such as Aave, metaverse projects such as The Sandbox and Decentraland, and decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs) such as MakerDAO.

With growing calls for crypto-payment regulation under existing tax and Anti-Money Laundering laws, Request Finance offers enterprises an easy way to document critical information about their crypto payments typically required by the authorities.

Alexis du Peloux, principal of XAnge, said, “After backing Ledger, Coinhouse and Dogamí, we’re backing a Web3 company that is set to become an essential part of tooling for Web3 businesses like DAOs, DeFi platforms, metaverse companies and more.”

What Winter?

Despite cratering crypto asset prices and skepticism toward the real-world adoption of cryptocurrencies, the company appears immune to the crypto winter’s cold. 

According to the company’s published data for May, crypto invoices paid rose 81% month-on-month, bringing the total count to more than 10,000 invoices paid. This represents about $10.5 million in crypto invoices paid last month alone — up $5 million, or 91%, from the previous month.

While larger crypto companies have been making headlines for layoffs and canceled job offers, Request Finance is actively looking to grow its ranks. It is hiring for various roles, including a chief finance officer, software developers and positions in business development and marketing.

The remote team currently comprises more than 20 blockchain engineers, user interface designers, growth hackers and support staff from 12 countries in Asia and Europe: Singapore, Indonesia, South Korea, United Kingdom, the Netherlands, France, Greece, Germany, Portugal, Mauritius, Bulgaria and North Macedonia.

Media contact

  • Ivan Hong — ivan.hong@request.finance