Defi startup Alloy clinches $3m led by Checkout.com founder
Decentralised finance startup Alloy has raised $3 million in a pre-seed round led by Headline Ventures to enter the fast-growing DeFi space.
Interestingly, the German startup was backed by angel investors including Guillaume Pousaz, the founder of Checkout.com alongside Sorare founder Nicolas Julia and Seedcamp.
Alloy protocol, which is built on the Ethereum, allows anyone to send money anonymously over its own blockchain. Per its website, users accounts have a mnemonic seed displayed when created, which can be written down to back up the account and account files are encrypted with a passphrase to ensure they are protected.
Funds from this round will go into expanding the company’s flagship product, which provides sophisticated investors with the infrastructure they need to interact with decentralized finance. Alloy provides an intuitive client-facing frontend, similar to a brokerage trading platform, and an API-solution for clients to integrate into existing infrastructure.
Alloy also offers a bank-level security with BaFin-regulated custody of digital assets and MPC private key storage. As the first provider of a fully regulatory compliant DeFi gateway, Alloy caters to the needs of institutional investors looking to gain exposure to crypto assets.
“So most of the challenge is regulatory and, on the client-side of things where the more sophisticated investors want a legal framework that allows them to deploy capital into DeFi but still have custody and KYC AML checks handled,” said Alloy founder Paul Faecks. He added that peer to peer transactions and retail trading are two of the biggest drivers of crypto adoption.
“Working closely with our clients allows for seamless integration into existing tech infrastructure and reporting / monitoring systems through an all-in-one API solution. Continuous monitoring and on-chain due diligence allows for compliance with all relevant AML and KYC regulations, worldwide,” the statement reads.
Alloy also provides investors with a DeFi analytics platform along with data-driven insights to help them make investment decisions on a user-friendly interface. Fresh funds raised will help expand features for its users, scale its infrastructure to benefit user experience, build a community and hire talent across global offices.
