Latitude, a global payments infrastructure company, has emerged from stealth with an $8 million seed round to build a new foundation for cross-border money movement. The round was led by NEA with participation from Lightspeed Faction, Coinbase Ventures, Paxos, Bitso, and the Solana Foundation.
Founded by former leaders from Stripe, Coinbase, and Uber, Latitude is targeting longstanding inefficiencies in global payments, which remain slow, expensive, and operationally complex due to legacy banking infrastructure.
The company’s platform is built on stablecoin rails and designed to enable instant settlement into local bank accounts. Latitude offers a flat fee of 50 basis points at the real interbank FX rate, with no volume commitments and onboarding timelines measured in days rather than months.
Latitude’s flagship product, Global Payouts, enables businesses to send money internationally with near-instant settlement in local currency. The platform is powered by the Latitude Liquidity Network, which combines stablecoin infrastructure, built-in compliance, and direct local payout connectivity across more than 50 countries.
The company believes recent regulatory clarity around stablecoins in the U.S. has created the conditions for broader adoption of blockchain-based payment infrastructure. Latitude is positioning itself to serve fintechs, marketplaces, payroll platforms, and digital wallets that require fast and cost-efficient global money movement.
In less than a year, the company has built a real-time liquidity and payout network spanning 50 countries, secured 38 state money transmission licenses or approvals, and established direct integrations with major stablecoin issuers and U.S. bank partners. Latitude currently offers two live products, including global payouts and consumer on/off-ramps, with business dollar accounts in development.
The founding team includes CEO Cyril Mathew, who previously led payments and stablecoin initiatives at Uber, Coinbase, and Stripe; CTO Brian Wrightson, an early Facebook engineer and former Stripe product leader; and Vivek Morzaria, who led corporate development efforts at Uber, Lime, and OpenSea.
Latitude aims to replace fragmented, multi-intermediary payment systems with a unified, blockchain-native infrastructure that enables faster, more transparent, and lower-cost cross-border transactions.
KEY QUOTES:
“Global payments shouldn’t operate on infrastructure designed for a different era. Uber taught me that gig workers need money now. Coinbase taught me that crypto needs simplicity. Stripe taught me that stablecoins need local-currency connectivity to matter. Each company gave me a lesson the next one needed, and Latitude is where they all land. A fully regulated platform with stablecoins as the engine and local currency as the destination, moving money across borders instantly, and at a fraction of what businesses pay today.”
Cyril Mathew, Co-Founder And CEO Of Latitude
“In fintech, regulatory clarity and technical innovation rarely arrive at the same time, but that’s exactly what’s happening now. I’ve seen what it takes to win in financial infrastructure and payments. I believe Latitude has the regulatory depth, the technical architecture, and most importantly, the team that an opportunity like this demands.”
Rick Yang, Partner And Head Of Technology Investing At NEA
“Switching to Latitude was one of the easier decisions we’ve made. We’re paying our creators in markets and settling in local currency instantly, and finally working with a payments partner that’s expanding into the same markets we care about. The support and flexibility have been a breath of fresh air — we’re not just a ticket in a queue anymore.”
Adrian Lopez, CEO Of Zencastr
