Adaverse, a Cardano ecosystem accelerator in Africa backed by EMURGO Africa with a mission to scale Web3 projects on the Cardano blockchain, has announced an investment in BoundlessPay, a digital banking platform simplifying cross-border transactions for Africans and Diasporan Africans.
Adaverse and EMURGO Africa join other strategic investors in an ongoing pre-seed fundraising initiative to launch BoundlessPay into its next phase of development in 2023.
Shogo Ishida, co-CEO at EMURGO Middle East & Africa commented, ”BoundlessPay is doing something unique and different with what many have tried and failed. We are excited to be a part of this growth process. It takes a determined heart to build a sustainable Web3 platform that projects into the future development of Africa, which is why Cardano’s proven blockchain platform is ideal for this structural growth and offers flexibility and sustainability.”
Vincent Li, founding partner at Adaverse stated, “We are equally excited about BoundlessPay’s capabilities, especially their talented team. We believe that they have what it takes to sustain this momentum by providing a sustainable socially-impactful platform with a drive for excellence. As such, BoundlessPay will benefit greatly from the Adaverse 3-month accelerator program and be able to connect to the global resources within the Cardano community.’’
In the Q&A interview below, Franklin Peters, CEO of BoundlessPay, talks about the Adaverse investment, eCommerce potential in Africa, and how the company plans to achieve its goal by integrating Cardano blockchain infrastructure.
Q&A with BoundlessPay CEO Franklin Peters
Q: Tell us about BoundlessPay.
Peters: BoundlessPay is a global digital banking app for cross-border collections, payments, and settlements that utilizes blockchain to solve remittance and payment problems. I have a background in computer science and 2021, I decided to start BoundlessPay. Our mission is to interconnect Africans to digitally-driven global e-commerce, leveraging Web3 technology to build an affordable, fast, and easy-to-use payment platform.
Q: How does BoundlessPay operate?
Peters: BoundlessPay is accessible as a mobile and web application that enables everyone anywhere to send, receive, exchange, and swap currencies easily. The platform operates on USD-pegged stablecoins like USDT and Cardano USDA as an alternative way to store and spend money locally and globally and users can access virtual USD cards and virtual fiat accounts, and easily on-ramp and off-ramp within seconds.
Q: What are the prevalent challenges BoundlessPay aims to tackle?
Peters: Having identified the economic wave of consumption across continents and the interconnectivity of eCommerce globally, BoundlessPay is positioned as a bridge for Africans to access opportunities beyond her shores. In Africa, currency depreciation and inflation are at an all-time high. There is a palpable fear of wealth storage in local fiat currencies, while the number of unbanked and underbanked continues to grow. Africans are massively exiting their local fiat currencies into stronger currencies such as USD and GBP and stablecoins to protect their assets and resources.
Q: Why is blockchain a necessity for BoundlessPay services?
Peters: By building on Web3 tools, BoundlessPay eliminates cross-border barriers, allowing anyone, anywhere, to access a trusted multi-currency wallet, with value-added services like utility bill payments and currency swaps. Having experienced disappointment with similar Web2 cross-border platforms stunted by unfavourable government regulations, BoundlessPay has set out to offer a Web3 platform that is free of hassles and highly secure. By fostering strategic partnerships with global organisations, BoundlessPay gives users better international money transfers and instant settlement options.
Despite the growing use of fintech apps and the wide adoption of mobile money platforms, the interoperability hurdle for a cross-border settlement still plagues the African economic structures due to restrictive regulations. The process of obtaining foreign currencies and opening accounts for foreign transactions in Africa is heavily regulated with stringent requirements that cannot be met by the middle and low-income earners seeking alternatives to their devaluing fiat currencies. Therefore, to break these barriers, BoundlessPay provides trusted and instant FOREX services available to all including the underbanked.
Q: How will BoundlessPay promote the Cardano blockchain ecosystem?
Peters: It’s a win-win relationship between Cardano and BoundlessPay. Building on the environmentally-friendly Cardano blockchain allows for low transaction fees and the platform is sustainable, secure, interoperable, decentralized, and backed by a team of researchers who are dedicated to constantly improving the system using peer-reviewed methods. BoundlessPay will utilise and fully support the Cardano blockchain in its scaling. This means that Cardano native tokens can be listed on BoundlessPay, especially Cardano stablecoins. BoundlessPay intends to intensify marketing efforts in Africa to drive the adoption of Cardano-based tokens among retail investors, traders, and developers. In addition, BoundlessPay will partner with dApps in the Cardano ecosystem to ensure interoperability and growth of the ecosystem.
Q: How will Adaverse contribute to the BoundlessPay growth plan?
Partnering with EMURGO Africa and Adaverse was one of our major highlights in 2022. It has opened up the possibility of a new dimension of growth. We plan to create more services that support Cardano native tokens on our app in the future including launching our native token on the Cardano network. As the Adaverse team is constantly building a healthy ecosystem and community in Africa, we at BoundlessPay are excited to tap into this wealth of resources to provide more bespoke services that truly solve African payment and remittance problems which we believe can be achieved on the Cardano Blockchain.
To enjoy seamless and flexible cross-border transactions, visit the BoundlessPay website.
About Adaverse
Adaverse is a driving force in the Cardano ecosystem growth across Africa with grassroots reach and connected investment towards the development of Web3 startups expanding the eCommerce market potential in Africa. Founded in 2021 as a joint-venture partnership between EMURGO Africa and Everest Ventures Group to identify and scale 300 promising Web3 projects in Africa, Adaverse has invested in 30 startups across seven (7) sub-Saharan African countries.
Through a unique market-tailored approach, Adaverse is committed to scaling young startups, offering a 1:1 mentorship program, adequate funding, and tech support to founders building sustainable and globally-relevant businesses. In 2023, Adaverse will dedicate more resources to expand growth in the Cardano community and help launch game-changing solutions, especially Cardano-focused projects across Africa and the Middle East to usher in the digitally fortified global economy.
Startups that are African-focused building Web3 solutions can apply for funding and mentorship here.
