In a round led by AngelList Syndicate and 500 Startups, and featuring participation from Blumberg Capital, ZipZap has raised $1.1 million in new capital.
ZipZap now has $2.7 million in total funding. In a statement, the company says the funds will “further its vision to be the primary payment network for digital currencies.”
This helps explain, among other things, ZipZap’s recent talent acquisition: Jim Griffin. Formerly of UBS Investment Bank, where he was Executive Director, Jim is newly the Senior Vice President of Currency and Foreign Exchange for ZipZap.
ZipZap founder and CEO Alan Safahi pointed to Jim’s expertise in these areas as key to helping ZipZap “not only manage our risks but also develop solid relationships with banks and currency traders.” Before working at UBS, Jim was Senior Vice President of Foreign Exchange at Wells Fargo.
ZipZap is a global network that makes it easy for people to buy digital currencies with cash ACH, or wire transfer. The service is active in the U.S. , the U.K. and 15 other countries throughout Europe and Latin America. Bitcoin is currently offered, with LiteCoin and Dogecoin available “in the near future.”
ZipZap had paused its cash-to-Bitcoin service in the U.K. in March, due to concerns over the government’s attitude toward the digital currency. That service has been restored as of June. As reported in CoinDesk, ZipZap has “more than 20,000 partner retail locations in the U.K.”
Founded in 2010 and based in San Francisco, ZipZap demoed its CashCade and CashPayment solutions at FinovateSpring 2012. See the company in action here.