Relai, a Swiss Bitcoin investment app, has announced a funding round of $4.5 million. The capital raise was led by ego death capital and is intended to provide backing for the three-year-old startup's expansion across Europe.
There are several pure Bitcoin investment platforms that target small investors. Relai claims to be the most uncomplicated one, thanks to its simple and user-friendly interface - an attractive promise. Since its inception in early 2020, over 100 million CHF has been invested in Bitcoin through the platform. The funding round follows nearly two years after a Series A that raised CHF 2 million for the Swiss startup. Just a few months prior, CEO Julian Liniger detailed the company's founding story in a guest article for CVJ.CH.
Interest in Bitcoin despite "crypto winter"
The current bear market does not appear to intimidate the young company. Julian Liniger commented, that now is the ideal time to focus on developing a first-class product. The proceeds from the funding round will be used to strengthen Relai's position as a Bitcoin-only startup in Europe.
"Our team is hungry for what lies ahead and we have a crystal clear plan that we will execute in the coming months. With the capital of ego death and the great network around Jeff Booth, Andi Pitt and Nico Lechuga, we are ready to bring Bitcoin to 400M people and 25M SMEs in Europe!" - Julian Liniger, CEO and Co-Founder of Relai
The startup plans to offer commission-free Bitcoin trading, integrate Bitcoin Lightning functionality, and launch a white-label offering that will enable other FinTechs to offer fiat-to-Bitcoin trading. In addition, the company has recently expanded its services to appeal to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) looking to incorporate Bitcoin into their balance sheets.
Old investors remain on board
Ego death capital led the financing round, with other investors including Timechain, Cabrit Capital, and Lightning Ventures. Relai's main investor, Redalpine, and seed-stage investor Fulgur Ventures also participated in the funding round. As a result of the capital raise, Andi Pitt, founding partner of ego death capital and former Vice President Trading at Goldman Sachs New York, will join the Relai board. Their advisory board also includes other prominent names in the global Bitcoin industry such as Lyn Alden, Preston Pysh, and Pablo Fernandez.
"The Relai team has demonstrated the ability to achieve sustainable growth by building an incredibly loyal user base. We are excited to work with this excellent team and believe that Relai will play a key role in spreading Bitcoin throughout Europe." - Jeff Booth, General Partner at ego death capital
