Centbee, the South African bitcoin cash wallet has secured additional funding from an Amsterdam-based VC fund Two Hop Ventures to further develop its products.
“We’ve enjoyed a high user growth rate and have a clear path to revenue. With Two Hop’s support, we’ll continue building more utility into our products by leveraging the BSV blockchain and delivering world class app functionality to our users,” Angus Brown, co-CEO of Centbee said.
Here Is The Deal
- The latest investment is the first VC funding for the startup which is looking to disrupt South Africa’s cryptocurrency market.
- In 2019, the startup raised £1 million in a Series A round from Canadian-born billionaire entrepreneur Calvin Ayre.
- The latest deal comes after South Africa-based venture capital fund Paper Plane Ventures successfully exited its stakes in Centbee to Two Hop.
Why The Investors Invested
Two Hop Ventures is a venture capital fund based in the Netherlands. It invests exclusively in companies leveraging the BitcoinSV (BSV) blockchain. Two Hop’s investment targets are enabling technologies such as Identity as a Service (IDaaS), Indexing, Remittance and Document.
“Not only is Centbee one of the most used wallets in the BitcoinSV (BSV) ecosystem, it’s building products and services with a strong focus on regulatory compliance,’’ Jan Smit, co-founder, Two Hop, said. ‘‘The senior management team come from strong professional and corporate backgrounds including software engineering, banking, payments, accounting and finance.
We believe its professionalism and strong businesses acumen will enable Centbee to branch into many adjacent services and geographies which competitors are less likely to address. The Two Hop team is looking forward to supporting the Centbee team on this journey.”
Read also: South Africa Has The Best Startup Ecosystem In Africa, Says New Ranking
A Look At What The Bitcoin Startup Centbee Does
Launched in 2016 by co-CEOs Lorien Gamaroff and Angus Brown, Centbee launched its bitcoin cash wallet to market late in 2018, allowing users to send bitcoin cash directly to their phone contacts.
The startup’s co-CEOs Lorien Gamaroff is a leading expert in blockchain tech and cryptocurrencies, while Angus Brown — the former CEO of eBucks.com — has 20 years’ experience in payments and banking.
“Centbee has one of the most user-friendly Bitcoin wallets and merchant payment solutions we have seen,’’ said Jimmy Nguyen, chairman of nChain Group, a blockchain advisory, research and development firm which previously took an equity stake in Centbee in January 2018 at an undisclosed amount.
“It is built using the original Bitcoin protocol, now alive only in the form of Bitcoin SV, which has a plan for massive blockchain scaling. This enables Centbee to offer low fees and fast transaction speeds. We will continue to work with Centbee as it sparks greater merchant and consumer adoption of Bitcoin BSV in Africa and worldwide.”
Charles Rapulu Udoh
Charles Rapulu Udoh is a Lagos-based lawyer who has advised startups across Africa on issues such as startup funding (Venture Capital, Debt financing, private equity, angel investing etc), taxation, strategies, etc. He also has special focus on the protection of business or brands’ intellectual property rights ( such as trademark, patent or design) across Africa and other foreign jurisdictions.
He is well versed on issues of ESG (sustainability), media and entertainment law, corporate finance and governance.
He is also an award-winning writer.
He could be contacted at udohrapulu@gmail.com