Crypto investment platform based in Singapore pillow raised $18 million in Series A funding on October 13.
The funding round was co-led by Accel, Quona Capital, Elevation Capital and Jump Capital. Accel is the head of the venture capital firm with the most ownership of Unicorn, and Elevation Capital was a key investor in his Pillow during the seed round.
Pillow allows users to invest and save in USD-backed stablecoins and various popular cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH).
The platform will launch in 2021 and already has over 75,000 users in 60 countries. Since the beginning of the year, Pillow’s user base has grown by 300% and the number of supported assets has increased by 5x.
Focus on emerging markets
Pillow aims to empower individuals living in emerging economies who may not have access to financial services. Pillow CEO Arinda Roy said:
“At Pillow, we aim to create and reward a culture of disciplined personal finance so that hardworking and ambitious young people can take control of their finances, achieve their life goals, and achieve financial freedom. You will be able to work towards
He further added:
“We create a range of high-quality, secure and transparent financial products that grant users access to global economic opportunities and put them in control of their financial future.”
The platform is also keen on removing friction and providing a smooth user experience, which serves its ultimate purpose of increasing financial inclusion.By removing the friction of the formal economic system, Pillow We believe we can encourage users to take control of their finances by engaging with them and providing savings and investment opportunities.
Pillow has expanded into various emerging markets in the last year, including Nigeria, Ghana, and Vietnam.
Emerging Markets and Crypto
Emerging economies have been driving the adoption of cryptocurrencies for the past few years.
In 2021, a Chainalysis report showed global cryptocurrency adoption surged by 880%. Emerging economies such as Kenya, Nigeria, Vietnam and Venezuela ranked high in the Adoption Index, while countries such as China and the United States ranked 13th and 8th respectively.
A 2022 update of the same report revealed that the countries with the highest adoption rates had not changed much over the past year. India, Pakistan and Thailand ranked in the top ten.
Another survey, conducted in May 2022, also found emerging economies’ attitudes towards the metaverse to be bullish and adaptive.
The link between emerging markets and high cryptocurrency adoption is high inflation. As a direct alternative to fiat currency, cryptocurrencies are also seen as a hedge against inflation, increasing their popularity in regions with high inflation.
Emerging economies such as Venezuela, Brazil, Nigeria, Pakistan and Colombia, with high inflation rates, have also recorded high crypto adoption rates, according to April 2022 figures.
