Sep 13, 2023

Caliza , a São Paulo, Brazil-based startup that allows banks and fintech companies to embed its API infrastructure to save and transact in U.S. dollars, raised $5M in Seed funding. The round was led by Better Tomorrow Ventures and Abstract Ventures with participation from Class 5 Global, Valor Capital Group, Quona Capital, Fontes by QED, Raba Capital, Rally Cap Ventures, and Digital Currency Group, along with founders and angel investors including GB Agboola (Flutterwave), Geoff Hayes (Compound), Ham Serunjogi and Maijid Moujaled (Chipper Cash), Diogo Mónica (Anchorage Digital), Ashton Braun (Silo), Misha Esipov (Nova Credit), Florian Hagenbuch, Mate Pencz and Andreas Scholten (Loft), Daniel Bilbao (Truora), Andres Bilbao (Rappi), Charles Delingpole (ComplyAdvantage), Michael Kent and Ricky Knox (Azimo), Michael Ovitz (CAA), Tikhon Bernstam (Parse), Jon Choi (Teleport), Jesse Ghansah (Float), Charles Naut (Rain), and more. The company intends to use the funds to grow the team and build additional financial services such as access to U.S. Treasury bills with on-demand liquidation capability and international credit cards. Founded in 2021 by Ezra Kebrab, Caliza enables banks and fintech companies to embed its API infrastructure and offer their customers the ability to save and transact in U.S. dollars, regardless of their location. Its infrastructure includes digital dollar accounts, real-time cross-border payments, and fiat-to-crypto on and off ramps. Using it, banks and fintech companies will now be able to offer digital dollar accounts and real-time cross-border payments as well as embed fiat-to-crypto on and off ramps within their services, allowing customers to build wealth, send and receive payments in U.S. dollars, and exchange currency instantly. The company is currently offering its services in Brazil and plans to expand into Mexico by early 2024. Other countries across Africa and Southeast Asia are also part of Caliza’s roadmap. FinSMEs 13/09/2023