Crypto Investment Platform Pillow Attracts $18M

Democratised access to digital assets is key to getting emerging market investors on a level playing field, giving them the opportunity to take control of their finances and battle the dual challenges of inflation and the rising costs of living.

Helping them on this journey, crypto investments platform Pillow is creating simple, transparent, accessible products including crypto investing, crypto savings, crypto payments and other financial services.

Underscoring the importance of its mission, today Singapore-based Pillow announced it has raised $18 million in Series A funding co-led by Accel, Quona Capital, Elevation Capital and Jump Capital.

A statement by the company said Elevation Capital were also the first Seed investors in Pillow, having led the round in 2021.

“Founded in 2021 by Arindam Roy, Rajath KM, and Kartik Mishra, the Pillow platform is a community of more than 75,000 users in over 60 countries who are taking control of their financial lives by saving and investing using digital assets. Within the Pillow app, users can invest and save in US Dollar-backed stablecoins, as well as multiple blue-chip cryptocurrencies including Bitcoin, Ethereum and others,” the statement remarked.

The statement further explained that the company is just getting started, adding that Pillow has plans to do even more to elevate the personal finance journeys of people in emerging markets such as Africa and Southeast Asia.

The Chief Executive Officer, Pillow, Arindam Roy, said we are creating a suite of high-quality, secure, and transparent financial products that would grant users access to global economic opportunities and let them take control of their financial future.

The statement revealed that since the beginning of 2022, the company has grown its user base by 300%, with assets under management having grown 5x, noting that the company has expanded into Nigeria, Ghana, and Vietnam, among other emerging markets.

co-founder and managing partner at Quona, and Ganesh Rengaswamy, said: “What Pillow is building can remove the friction of formal financial systems for the underserved, while engaging users in savings and investing behaviors.”

The statement remarked that Quona is excited to support the company on its journey.”

The statement said Digital assets and decentralised finance are opening up access to global economies across the world by operating on borderless systems without relying on centralised entities.

The statement hinted that the challenge is in making it simple and user-friendly enough for mass adoption.

Arindam, Rajath, and Kartik’s mission is to create a safe, accessible, borderless crypto investment platform and make digital assets accessible to everyone globally.

Vaas Bhaskar, Principal at Elevation Capital said “The lack of intuitive, user friendly platforms is a big impediment to large-scale adoption of digital assets as an investment class, and Pillow is doing a phenomenal job in bridging this gap.

“The growth they’ve been able to achieve since inception is testament to the quality and seamlessness of the solution. We are sure that this is just the beginning and are excited to partner on this mission to build the leading emerging markets digital asset management company.”

Principal at Accel, Pratik Agarwal, said: “Pillow aims to recreate the financial experience for consumers who struggle with access, on crypto rails. We’re excited to work with the Arindam, Karthik, Rajath and the team in reimagining what financial opportunity and inclusion looks like in the digital age for global emerging and frontier markets.”