Payments Startup Celo Raises $20M From a16z, Electric Capital

Mobile-focused blockchain payments startup Celo has raised $20 million from the likes of Andreesen Horowitz (a16z), Greenfield One and Electric Capital.

According to a press release on Wednesday, the funding will go towards fleshing out its suite of offerings.

Celo is a proof-of-stake blockchain built on Ethereum, designed to support stablecoins and tokenized assets, while utilizing cellphone numbers to secure a user’s public keys.

To date, the startup says it has raised more than $65 million from high-profile industry backers including Polychain Capital, Reid Hoffman, Jack Dorsey, Coinbase Ventures, among others.

“We now have the technology to create a better financial system, a rich ecology of digital assets and products that allow individuals and organizations to … transact and manage risk,” said Celo co-founder Rene Reinsberg.

Since Celo’s initial development in 2017, the project has launched a mainnet, a native token (CELO), a stablecoin (cUSD), a mobile payments app and has been listed on major exchanges including Coinbase and Binance.