Having left Starling Bank back in 2016, Mark Hipperson is now back with his new venture Ziglu, which has just bagged ?5.25m in seed capital.
?As we gear up for our next stage of development, we are delighted to have oversold our seed funding and welcome our new investors,” said Hipperson, founder and CEO of Ziglu. “This significant cash injection allows us to deliver an exciting product with an innovation cycle, fast and responsive to customer needs.p>
A number of specialist UK FinTech investors and entrepreneurs backed this new round, although Ziglu didn’t name any of them. The cryptocurrency exchange will use the seed money to deliver a product roadmap, build and engage with the Ziglu user community, and to expand Ziglu in-house technology team and capabilities.
Hipperson set up Ziglu to provide a digital platform to enable customers to quickly and competitively exchange fiat currency for cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin, ether and litecoin. His idea is to make it easier and fairer to access crypto and foreign currencies for customers. The company said that its model is fully transparent and guarantees no hidden fees or transaction charges.
The cryptocurrency exchange has joined the summer cohort of the 2020 Business Growth Programme, sponsored by the Mayor of London.
Hipperson was part of Starling Bank’s funding team in 2014 and in 2015 he stepped in as CTO when his predecessor Tom Blomfield left to launch challenger bank rival Monzo. Hipperson himself left one year later, citing “a disagreement on the way forward” as the cause for his departure.
He has reportedly been working on Ziglu since late 2018. In December 2019, he said that he planned to process $1bn in 2020 and that he could be eyeing a US expansion by the end of the year. Ziglu went live in June 2020.
“This launch marks the beginning of an exciting journey for Ziglu to deliver transformational financial services for our customers,” said Hipperson. “By offering immediate and safe access to best-price crypto, customers can spend, exchange and send their money, regardless of the currency, where, when and how they want.”
In May, Starling Bank revealed that it had closed a ?40m funding round.
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