The SDF has given $550,000 in convertible loan notes to SatoshiPay for development of their B2B solution. The loan has come at a critical time in the company’s growth, given the scale-backs brought about by the coronavirus outbreak.
Crypto payment solutions provider SatoshiPay has revealed that the Stellar Development Foundation (SDF) has invested $550,000 through convertible loan notes.
This is the third investment made by the SDF through its Enterprise Fund. The cash injection will be used to support SatoshiPay in developing its B2B solutions for cross-border commercial payments and digital wallets.
As one of the first businesses to commercially use the SDF, SatoshiPay has processed over €650,000 in payments from 200,000 accounts. Solar, SatoshiPay’s open-source wallet for the Stellar network, has been downloaded more than 25,000 times across 40 different countries.
The SDF is SatoshiPay’s key partner in providing maintenance and support for the Stellar decentralized ledger network. This investment is expected to augment an already solid partnership between the two organisations. It also acts as a strong endorsement for the SatoshiPay brand.
The conversion for the loan notes are expected to happen at SatoshiPay’s next round of funding.
The grant will primarily be used for developing and marketing the SatoshiPay B2B solution, which is currently in its testing phase. The company expects a product in closed alpha testing in as soon as eight weeks and a public beta product launch sometime in the fourth quarter of 2020.
SatoshiPay has revealed that so far, the initial reaction to the product has been positive. In addition, it estimates that the commercial payments segment (which is the largest segment of this market), as well as areas that will focus on allowing businesses to conduct commercial payments across borders, will generate €170bn in annual transaction fees.
In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, SatoshiPay has taken immediate action in reducing costs and ensuring their staff’s safety. SDF’s investment, combined with their current cash position, has provided enough working capital for the immediate future.
Meinhard Benn, CEO of SatoshiPay, anticipates considerable growth through their business model and credits their development through the years to the SDF.
“With a surge in demand for instant B2B payments, and blockchain maturing and enabling a payments revolution, we believe we have a head start through our proven, scalable blockchain business model. Our growth over the years wouldn’t have been possible without SDF, who has been an essential partner to us in the development of our technology which continues today with this investment.” Benn said.
Tony Fabrizi, CEO of Blue Star Capital PLC, an investing company in payments, esports, and technology with a 27.7% stake in SatoshiPay, also welcomes the investment by the SDF, stating that it “comes at a critical time in the company’s development.”