[Rejected] Singapore’s Crypto Investment Platform Pillow Raises $18 Million In Series A Funding Round

Pillow, a digital asset investment platform based in Singapore, announced on Thursday that it has raised $18 million in Series A funding co-led by US venture capital firm Accel, Washington-based venture investment firm Quona Capital, Chicago venture capital firm Jump Capital, and existing investor India’s venture capital firm Elevation Capital.

The crypto management startup said it plans to use the fresh funding to develop ‘alpha-generating’ decentralized financing strategies for cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Ethereum and other digital assets, and expand globally.

Pillow said although it has already expanded to some emerging markets such as Nigeria, Ghana, and Vietnam, among others, it will use the funding to accelerate the adoption of digital asset services in emerging economies in Southeast Asia and Africa.

The startup stated that its aim is to offer democratized access to crypto assets by creating simple, transparent, and accessible products including digital assets investing, savings, payments, and other financial services.

Arindam Roy, one of the co-founders of Pillow, talked about the development: “We’re creating a suite of high-quality, secure, and transparent financial products that will grant our users access to global economic opportunities and let them take control of their financial future."

Demands for digital assets remain stable

The move by digital asset investment platform Pillow comes despite the collapse of the cryptocurrency market that started at the end of May this year. Even though the situation in the market is unfavorable in the short-term due to events like the collapse of the TerraUSD stablecoin, crypto assets have demonstrated their ability to recover in the long-term perspective. And this is also true of the decentralized finance (DeFi) market.

DeFi services have continued to be on demand among users despite the market downturn. This explains the reason why financial firms are responding to fulfill the growing interest for DeFi services by implementing DApps into their products.

DeFi which runs on blockchain technology is an alternative to the traditional financial system. Anyone with a crypto wallet and an Internet connection can access DeFi services like exchanges, lending protocols, deposits, insurance etc., without relying on intermediaries such as banks.

Currently, DeFi has 4.6 billion users globally, therefore assists in solving the problem of financial inclusion. World Bank statistics show that more than 1.7 billion people worldwide do not have access to banking services, out of which 1 billion have mobile phones. Decentralized technologies therefore enable these people to access lending, deposits, and insurance services through the online network.