Ripio (by BitPagos) offers a bitcoin financial services suite that leverages the blockchain and traditional payment rails to let Latin America’s unbanked and underbanked buy and sell bitcoins and pay merchants via direct transfers. Led by CEO and co‑founder Sebastian Serrano, the platform supports peer and merchant payments and local‑currency on/off ramps. The company reports over seventy thousand users across Argentina and Brazil and is expanding into other regional markets, including Mexico and Colombia. Ripio intends to use recent financing to grow operations and market reach. Its investor base includes Medici Ventures as well as Tim Draper, Boost.VC, Huiyin Blockchain Ventures and Digital Currency Group. Medici will also take an observer seat on Ripio’s board. Ripio, formerly BitPagos, provides a bitcoin-focused digital wallet and a consumer credit product that uses wallet transaction history to underwrite micro-loans and other financial services. The company operates an Android wallet with an iOS version planned, and its consumer credit product is also named Ripio. It aims to promote financial inclusion in South America by enabling online payments for users with limited banking access and building alternative credit histories. Following bitcoin’s recent price surge, Ripio reported a 40% increase in active users in December and estimated it would process several million U.S. dollars in January, while declining to provide precise revenue or user figures. Founded in Buenos Aires in 2014, Ripio plans to expand into Brazil and Mexico, initially via its wallet service and later adding the credit system. To support that expansion it will hire local teams in each market and double its development team to about 12 people.

Total raised

$2M

Funding rounds

2

Latest round

Series A

Latest activity

Apr 2017