UK-based fiat and crypto payments network Bottlepay has raised £11 million in a seed funding round backed by British fund manager Alan Howard, present and former Goldman Sachs partners, FinTech Collective and Nydig.
Built on the Lightning Network, the Bottlepay app aims to faciliate social, streaming, and micropayments by offering real-time funds transfer in bitcoin and conventional currencies and integration with popular social media platforms such as Twitter, Reddit and Discord.
The product gained over 20,000 users for a beta version of the app with no marketing, after being rated as the number one Crunchbase Bitcoin start-up globally.
Bottlepay says it will use the funding - which gives the startup a £51 million post-money valuation - to expand its team, improve functionality and increase the geographical reach of the service over the coming year.
Mark Webster, CEO of Bottlepay, says: “The payments ecosystem is undergoing monumental changes as we move towards a cashless society. Today’s consumer wants to be able to transact freely and easily, without the restrictions of a traditional bank. We believe that with this cash injection, we can build a leading company in this rapidly growing space which will allow people to send, spend and receive payments in a way that works best for them.”