Fintech PR
Huma Raises $38M to Hyper-scale its Payment Financing (PayFi) Network
Huma Finance is transforming payment financing by utilizing real-world assets to deliver instant and borderless liquidity, enabling faster, more accessible, and more efficient financial solutions.
SAN FRANCISCO, Sept. 12, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Huma, the first Payment Financing (PayFi) network, announced today that it has raised $38 million in funding. Distributed Global led the equity round, with significant participation from Hashkey Capital, Folius Ventures, the Stellar Development Foundation, and TIBAS Ventures, CVC arm of İşbank, the largest private bank in Turkiye. Part of this raise came as investments into high-yield real world assets (RWA) assets on platform.
The vast majority of businesses and people around the world depend on a form of payment financing. Credit cards alone finance $16T in merchant payments globally. Trade finance facilitates $10 trillion in B2B payments. One in every six families depends on remittances—money sent back home across the borders—yet even that system depends on trillions of dollars being locked in pre-funding accounts. The list goes on. While the demand for payment financing increases daily, creating an urgent need for more innovative solutions, traditional financial institutions are unable—or unwilling—to meet this need, widening the liquidity gap with each passing day. Payment financing is so ingrained in every part of our lives that, without it, the entire economy would stop growing.
PayFi aims to address this giant liquidity gap by bringing trillions of dollars of real world payment volume over to blockchains and stablecoins. Leveraging the core strengths of blockchain—global money movement in seconds through programmable money—PayFi also enables new real-world use-cases that were previously impossible. Huma has built the first ever PayFi network with all of these use cases in mind, adopting an open, modular and decentralized approach to empower interoperable solutions across participants. By bringing the best of RWA, Payments, and DeFi together, Huma is creating a network that is far more efficient and accessible than traditional alternatives.
“While designing Huma, we often asked ourselves: How do you build an open payment financing network on blockchain that is more powerful than Visa? Today, stablecoins are already powering $2T in payments annually. An open payment financing network is going to help grow the entire payment ecosystem faster.” said Huma co-founder Richard Liu. “The surge of interest we’re seeing right now is a testament to PayFi’s potential. As more partners join us every week, it’s clear that PayFi is quickly becoming the new frontier of RWA.”
Building on this vision, Huma’s April merger with Arf, the leading on-demand liquidity solution for global payments, brought together the two of the most prominent PayFi players. Huma and Arf have already surpassed $1.8 billion in payment financing transactions and are on track to reach $10 billion next year, making them one of the fastest growing use cases for Circle’s USDC.
Part of this raise came as investments into Arf’s high-yield RWA assets. The Stellar Development Foundation provided a $10 million investment. Additionally, tokenized assets are currently available to accredited investors on Scroll for a limited period. With this funding infusion, Huma plans to further expand its PayFi network to the Stellar smart contract platform and to Solana in the coming months, making sure the network is accessible from all the major payments-focused chains.
“Moving money quickly and cheaply across borders is at the core of what the Stellar network does best. PayFi is providing real world utility that solves problems for people and companies, and it is the type of project tailor-made for the Stellar network. We look forward to continuing to working with Huma to grow the PayFi ecosystem,” said Denelle Dixon, CEO of the Stellar Development Foundation.
“Huma’s PayFi network represents an important step forward in payment financing, offering solutions to long-standing inefficiencies in the industry,” said Chao Deng, CEO of HashKey Capital. “We believe innovations like this are crucial for addressing real-world challenges, and we’re pleased to see Huma playing a key role in advancing the Web3 space.” Huma’s growing PayFi network has caught the attention of leading blockchain advocates, further fueling the momentum behind PayFi. The Solana Foundation’s support signals how PayFi’s innovative on-chain financial solutions are set to redefine global finance.
“PayFi is the creation of new financial markets around the time value of money. On-chain finance can enable new financial primitives, product experiences, and financial access that are impossible in traditional or even Web2 finance. When I met the Huma team, it was immediately apparent that they’d be a great anchor for the PayFi ecosystem within Solana.” said Lily Liu, President of Solana Foundation.
Huma plans to launch the Huma Foundation this year, a pivotal move to decentralize its PayFi network and broaden global access, further solidifying its leadership in the RWA space. Additionally, Huma is set to host the inaugural PayFi Summit in collaboration with the Solana Foundation and Stellar Development Foundation at Singapore Token 2049 on September 17th——an event poised to ignite conversations and drive innovation in the industry.
About Huma
Huma Finance is the first PayFi network. Huma powers financing of global payments, with instant access to liquidity anywhere, anytime. For more information about Huma and the PayFi network, visit https://huma.finance/
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View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/huma-raises-38m-to-hyper-scale-its-payment-financing-payfi-network-302246341.html
Fintech PR
Nium Expands Across Australia and New Zealand, Driven by Increased Adoption from Financial Institutions and Spend Management Platforms
Spend management platform, RedOwl, joins as latest partner;
Nium has seen monthly payment volume grow by 3X over the last twelve months, in the Oceania region
SYDNEY, Sept. 17, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Nium, the global leader in real-time cross-border payments, today announced that its monthly payment volume grew by 3X in Oceania, over the last year. This growth has been driven by a surge in adoption from financial institutions and spend management platforms, with AI platform, RedOwl, being the latest partner to join the Nium network. RedOwl’s immediate goal is to bring AI to corporate cards, joining spend management category leaders Weel and Budgetly, who have turned to Nium for white-label card issuing and cross-border payouts.
RedOwl is bringing the power of AI into payment rails, championing intelligence and real-time decision making when it comes to card related payments. “We chose Nium because of their unparalleled infrastructure and expertise in powering modern payments. Their solutions allow us to enter the market faster and deliver greater value to our customers,” said Jitto Arulampalam, Co-founder and CEO at RedOwl.
Budgetly has been a Nium customer since 2020. The company tapped Nium to provide more convenience and control to its SME clientele through the provision of pre-paid cards for expense management processes. “Partnering with Nium has been a game-changer for Budgetly,” said Simon Lenoir, CEO and Founding Director at Budgetly. “Through Nium, we recently launched our international bill payment solution, offering our customers the ability to make payments effortlessly via one portal. This partnership has allowed us to scale rapidly and offer seamless experiences for our customers.”
“The spend management industry is booming in Australia, with businesses increasingly turning to Nium for its white-label card issuing and cross-border payment solutions,” said Anupam Pahuja, EVP and GM for APAC, Middle East, and Africa at Nium. “Our platform solves complex payment problems across a wide range of verticals, including travel, payroll, insurance, and e-commerce. Our card issuance solution has already issued over 75 million cards globally, supporting major global brands. This, along with Nium’s extensive geographical coverage and B2B infrastructure focus, positions the company as a critical enabler for businesses looking to scale in Australia, New Zealand, and beyond.”
In addition to its success in Australia, Nium recently achieved another critical milestone by registering as a Financial Service Provider in New Zealand. This pivotal step marks the company’s entry into the dynamic financial landscape of New Zealand, allowing it to extend its comprehensive suite of financial solutions to local businesses. Nium expects that its offerings will range from virtual accounts and global payouts to debit and prepaid cards, enabling businesses to streamline operations and improve their financial efficiency.
“Becoming a registered Financial Service Provider in New Zealand reaffirms our commitment to delivering innovative financial solutions globally,” continued Pahuja. “Our presence in New Zealand, alongside our established operations in Australia, positions us as a key player in the region’s financial ecosystem, empowering businesses to thrive through our technology.”
Since its founding ten years ago, Nium has raised over $300 million USD (up to Series E). In October 2023, Nium celebrated its Centaur status, reaching $100 million USD in aggregate net revenue — a milestone achieved by only 1% of startups globally. This achievement underscores Niums rapid growth and leadership in enabling seamless global financial services for businesses.
About Nium
Nium, the global leader in real-time, cross-border payments, was founded on the mission to deliver the global payments infrastructure of tomorrow, today. With the onset of the global economy, its payments infrastructure is shaping how banks, fintechs, and businesses everywhere collect, convert, and disburse funds instantly across borders. Its payout network supports 100 currencies and spans 220+ markets, 100 of which in real-time. Funds can be disbursed to accounts, wallets, and cards and collected locally in 40 markets. Nium’s growing card issuance business is already available in 34 countries. Nium holds regulatory licenses and authorizations in more than 40 countries, enabling seamless onboarding, rapid integration, and compliance – independent of geography. The company is co-headquartered in San Francisco and Singapore.
Media contacts:
Anjali DMello,
+6591812542,
[email protected]
Logo – https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1678669/4916279/Nium_Logo.jpg
View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/nium-expands-across-australia-and-new-zealand-driven-by-increased-adoption-from-financial-institutions-and-spend-management-platforms-302250573.html
ANAHEIM, Calif., Sept. 17, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Fractal EMS Inc. (“Fractal”), a leading provider of advanced solar and storage controls, has announced a groundbreaking partnership with Gold Electronic Equipment Inc. (“Gold”), a leading high-tech company specializing in R&D, active balancing technology and manufacturing of the battery management system (BMS). A signing ceremony and celebration was held on September 9th at the RE+ clean energy conference in Anaheim, California. The new partnership will provide a cybersecure American BMS to customers worldwide (“Fractal BMS”).
The Fractal BMS provides a 3-level BMS architecture (module, rack and system). The design of the Fractal BMS has been finalized, featuring an American-sourced chip, printed circuit board assembly (PCBA), and cybersecurity, ensuring compliance with U.S. policies for sourcing and critical infrastructure protection. The Fractal BMS has the option to provide active cell balancing to maximize each battery cell’s useful capacity and life.
“Other companies proposing an American BMS have not addressed the cybersecurity concerns of the BMS. Some companies are licensing a foreign BMS or only providing a top-level device, neither of which cure cybersecurity threats and vulnerabilities. We are thrilled to collaborate with Gold to bring this advanced American BMS to the market. This partnership underscores our commitment to innovation, security, and supporting American technology,” said Daniel Crotzer, CEO at Fractal EMS.
Fractal BMS is scheduled for UL testing in late October 2024 and aims to become the gold standard for BESS deployments to mitigate risks associated with Foreign Entities of Concern (FEOC) and known cyber vulnerabilities in programmable devices. The American BMS will be available to battery manufacturers globally, offering a reliable and secure solution for battery management needs.
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Photo – https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2507752/Fractal_EMS_Inc.jpg
View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/gold-and-fractal-ems-announce-a-partnership-for-an-american-bms-302250787.html
NEW YORK, Sept. 17, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Ascenda, the global premium rewards network, today announced it has expanded its rewards network in order to enable fintech and banking clients’ customers to redeem their reward points in partnership with Uber. These credits will appear in users’ Uber wallets, and can be applied towards the cost of any of their products.
Uber is available in over 70 countries and powers over 30 million rideshares each day. With a global presence, the ability for millions of customers to earn Uber credits aims to deliver more engagement across Uber Rides, Uber Eats, and any other Uber offering in respective local markets.
“We’re committed to adding value for our users, with ease and flexibility at the forefront of our customer experience,” said Jenna Brown, Head of Uber for Business UK. “Our partnership with Ascenda will help us deliver this value to Uber users worldwide.”
“We’re building the most comprehensive consumer engagement ecosystem in the market,” said Josh Berwitz, CCO of Ascenda. “This exciting partnership with Uber enables us to bring tangible rewards and redemption experiences at scale, delivering compelling value and stronger relationships between our financial service clients, our rewards partners, and consumers.”
About Ascenda
Ascenda powers the growth of financial service brands and merchants globally with premium rewards propositions that accelerate customer acquisition, increase usage, and drive retention. Its best-in-class customer engagement platform is simple to deploy and powered by a unique global network of premium content that unlocks exceptional end-user value.
For more information, please visit ascenda.com.
About Uber
Uber’s mission is to create opportunity through movement. We started in 2010 to solve a simple problem: how do you get access to a ride at the touch of a button? More than 49 billion trips later, we’re building products to get people closer to where they want to be. By changing how people, food, and things move through cities, Uber is a platform that opens up the world to new possibilities.
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View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/ascenda-partners-with-uber-for-first-of-a-kind-points-redemption-for-consumers-worldwide-302250605.html
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