- Seattle-based Transparent Financial Systems announced it has raised over $14 million in Series A funding led by Pantera Capital
Seattle-based Transparent Financial Systems is a company that is developing on-demand 24/7/365 cryptographic settlement solutions that announced it has raised over $14 million in Series A funding led by Pantera Capital with participation from Square, Inc., Future\Perfect Ventures, IDEO Colab Ventures, Digital Currency Group, and CMT Digital. And this funding round is in addition to the $8 million in seed funding it received from Vulcan Capital in July 2018.
“The financial industry is ready for new technology to improve the way people pay for goods and services,” said Chris Orndorff, Chief Investment Officer at Vulcan Capital. “The team at Transparent has made impressive strides over the course of its first year, and we are excited to continue our work with them as their strategic partner and new investor that honors Paul Allen’s vision for the next wave of fintech.”
The company is currently concluding its beta program with a number of major financial services and fintechs in the US. And Transparent will use this round of funding to accelerate product development, engineering, and begin overseas expansion.
Transparent Financial Systems originally started out at Vulcan in early 2018 at the direction of the late Paul Allen along with Shawn Johnson, the former chairman of the investment committee of State Street Global Advisors. And in July of that year, Transparent was spun out by Jeff Kramer and István Fülöp, members of the team at Vulcan. Plus the company hired industry veterans Alex Fowler as its CEO and Patrick Murck as its Chief Legal Officer.
“Blockchain technology is rooted in decades of advances in distributed systems and cryptography, and it’s at the center of banking and financial innovation today,” added Pantera Co-Chief Investment Officer Joey Krug. “Based on Transparent’s strategic partnerships and solution, we believe this investment represents an exciting opportunity and will provide tremendous value to the future of on-demand settlements.”
Pantera and Future\Perfect will also join Vulcan on Transparent’s Board of Directors.
“The financial services industry is undergoing significant transformation through the application of new technologies,” stated Jalak Jobanputra, Founding Partner at Future\Perfect and one of today’s most influential fintech leaders. “We are thrilled to back Transparent in creating a more efficient, equitable, and resilient financial system. We look forward to working with them as they enter this exciting new phase of growth.”
Transparent saw several milestones in 2019, including several demonstrations of on-demand settlement of USD between multiple financial services firms, fintechs, and banks. And the company is on track to open up its network for evaluation, testing, and initial commercial use in 2020.
“Square believes that blockchain represents a path towards a more robust, safe, and empowering future for all participants in the economy — from individuals to businesses,” explained Mike Brock, Strategic Development of Cash App at Square. “We are excited to work with Transparent Systems to bring that vision to the financial system.”