Philippines-based Coins.ph has raised $5m in a Series A round to bring financial inclusion through blockchain technology.
The funding was led by Quona Capital’s Accion Frontier Inclusion Fund with Pantera Capital, Global Brain, BeeNext, Rebright Partners and Kickstart Ventures all contributing.
Existing backers Digital Currency Group, Wavemaker Labs and Innovation Endeavors also participated.
Founded in 2014 by Silicon Valley entrepreneurs Ron Hose and Runar Petursson the company aims to increase financial inclusion around South-East Asia through its blockchain-based technology.
Coins.ph platform is designed to allow users to preform banking tasks as well as remittances and bill payments through mobile devices.
By leveraging bitcoin and the blockchain to carry out transfers the company is able to offer dramatically reduced costs on overseas money transactions.
While the UN claims fewer than 31% of Filipinos have bank accounts Coins.ph counts more than 500,000 users across 40 countries and 22,000 cash distribution centres around the Philippines.
The company says it will use the capital to forge new partnerships with banks, financial institutions and retailers around the region.
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