Bleap, a blockchain-based payments app founded by two former Revolut managers, has secured $2.3m in pre-seed funding to support its future growth ambitions.
Funding was led by J Ethereal Ventures, an investment firm focused on ‘permissionless networks’ founded by Joe Lubin, the founder of blockchain technology firm Consensys.
According to The Block, other participants include Maven11, Alliance DAO, Robot Ventures and Credibly Neutral, alongside executives from Revolut, Consensys, leading crypto exchange OKX, crypto wallet Phantom, and Ethereum access network ElgenLayer.
Bleap was set up by Joao Alves and Guilherme Gomes, who concluded their careers at Revolut as Lead Operations Manager and Product Manager respectively. Alves also worked as an Operations Manager and Senior Operations Manager at the London firm, which is now Europe’s most valuable fintech.
The app’s essential function, as the duo explained to The Block, is to enable users to spend stablecoins for real world purposes via linked Mastercard debit cards. The company has not added any conversion or exchange fees to any purposes.
Bleap’s launch comes at a fortunate time for the company with global crypto markets seeing a surge in value and public interest whilst upcoming regulation in the European space is expected to stabilise the market and provide a foundation for future growth.
In the US, the election of vocally pro-crypto Donald Trump led to cryptocurrency valuations skyrocketing in the following weeks, though Bitcoin’s value has dropped slightly over the past week or so to $75,000 (28 November) after nearing $100,000.
The European case is more of a waiting game, with stakeholders anticipating the MiCA regulations due to come into effect next year will loosen the dominance Tether and Circle have on Europe’s stablecoin market, providing an opportunity for outsiders to cut a slice of the cake.
“MiCA regulation helps a lot,” Alves told The Block. “What was happening with the regulation in Europe, where each country was individually regulating crypto, was effectively breaking the single market mechanism we are supposed to have.
“I think that was the worst outcome. MiCA fixes this and brings regulation back to EU level where a company in any country in the EU can serve the EU as a whole. From that perspective, it’s a great thing.”