Warsaw-based “PayPal of crypto” Ramp closes record-breaking $53M Series A

Polish cryptocurrency payments startup Ramp has just finalized a $53 million (220 million zloty) investment round led by the UK fund Balderton Capital. Existing investors, such as NFX, Galaxy Digital, Seedcamp, Firstminute Capital, and business angels, also participated. It is the largest Series A in the history of Polish startups, MamStartup informs.

• Ramp was founded in Warsaw in 2017 by Szymon Sypniewicz and Przemek Kowalczyk. Describing itself as a PayPal of crypto, the startup builds crypto payments infrastructure that allows users to exchange fiat money such as US dollars for cryptocurrencies easily — the so-called on-ramping, as well as to pay using crypto.
• In 2020, Ramp became the first crypto company to receive an open banking license in Europe and approvals for operating in the UK and the US legally, Sifted writes.
• The record-breaking Series A was led by London fund Balderton Capital and came six months after Ramp completed its $9 million (37 million zloty) seed round. This time existing investors NFX, Galaxy Digital, Seedcamp, Firstminute Capital, and some business angels joined the round.
• To date, Ramp works with over 400 partners, including the Opera browser, the popular NFT games Axie Infinity and Sorare, Dapper Laps (creators of CryptoKitties and NBA Top Shot), Trust Wallet, and Argent.
• The startup will spend the proceeds on further expanding the team — from 80 to 300 specialists by the end of 2022, as well as acquiring more partners.