SA’s Centbee bags R17m to scale Blockchain Payments Wallet business
Blockchain payment company Centbee announced today that it has closed its pre-Series A round with founders Calvin Ayrefounder of Ayre Ventures.
Ayre Ventures first invested in Centbee in 2019.
The company was founded by co-CEOs Angus Brown and Lorien Gamaroff’s in South Africa and is now a global blockchain payment wallet business.
It is headquartered in London, UK, with offices in South Africa.
Gamaroff is a leading expert on blockchain technologies and cryptocurrencies. He has consulted and advised regulators and companies internationally and is highly regarded globally as an educator and presenter.
Brown has 20 years of experience in payments and banking, including the role of CEO of eBucks.com, the world’s first bank-backed digital currency created in 2000.
Brown was appointed chairman of the BSV blockchain technical standards committee earlier this year.
Speaking about the new raise, Ayre said: “My faith in Centbee has been rewarded through Angus and Lorien’s ongoing commitment to making Bitcoin – the original protocol in the form of BSV – easily usable and accessible to everyone. Unlike other blockchains, BSV is focused on utility, not speculation, and Centbee is working hard to promote Bitcoin’s adoption as a true peer-to-peer electronic cash system.”
The company gains a large user base outside its home continent. In the Philippines, it has integrated the very popular mobile wallet GCash, making it easy for users to use Bitcoin.
Gamaroff added: “We have the right vision, products and team to drive exponential growth for our investors.
“Consumers around the world are looking for better, simpler ways to pay, and our blockchain-based payment wallet does just that.
“Our latest feature, ChatPay, makes it easy to send money via a chat application in your wallet.”
Centbee is a digital money wallet that makes it easy for global consumers to buy, spend and send digital money to friends and family on their mobile phone using the BSV blockchain.
“Centbee has a suite of digital cash products and services that make payments easy, even cross-border,” says Angus Brown, Co-CEO.
“Our cross-border money transfer service, Minit Money, enables people to move money easily and cheaply across borders to support family and friends, and has already processed over 35,000 money transfers to Africa.
“The investment in Ayre Group will be used for scaling and growth as well as strengthening technical and operational capacity.”
The Centbee and Minit Money apps are available on the Apple Store, Google Play Store and Huawei App Gallery.
@Centbee‘s @gamaroff explains how the Bitcoin SV blockchain can be a powerful tool to help businesses and entrepreneurs integrate micropayments to enable seamless transfers.
Watch him unveil the latest Centbee feature: ChatPay via Bitcoin SV:
— Bitcoin Association (@BitcoinAssn) 14 December 2022
