Bengaluru-based blockchain startup New Street Technologies has raised $2 million (about Rs 14 crore) in a series A round led by Unitus Ventures and a clutch of businessmen who participated in their personal capacities.
The company, founded by former Citibank senior executive Sajeev Vishwanathan and Mohit Davar, chairman of the International Association of Money Transfer Networks, in August 2017 is in the business of connecting stakeholders in the financial services industry through a blockchain network.
“We have already disbursed loans of around Rs 30 crore for one of our bank partners in collaboration with business correspondents and have the mandate to do around Rs 1,000 crore for them through a three-year contract,” said Vishwanathan.
With the fresh funding, the company is planning to scale up its operations and expand beyond Karnataka and offer more products. Along with a blockchain based platform to ease fund flow to the last mile, it intends to use the ‘distributed ledger technology’ to lend to families of migrant workers depending on their remittance history.
“We have started the product in partnership with a bank in Nepal, but we are in conversations with UNCDP (United Nations Capital Development Fund), which wants to take our lending based on remittance product to other remittance corridors as well,” said Vishwanathan.
The company intends to take the product to other remittance corridors across Southeast Asia, among other markets.
