Spiko, a platform specializing in tokenized money market funds, recently announced a successful Series A funding round, securing a whopping $22 million. The round was spearheaded by Index Ventures and saw significant contributions from White Star Capital, Frst, Rerail, Bpifrance, and Blockwall. In addition, strategic angel investors, including Revolut co-founder Nikolay Storonsky, Kyriba founder Jean-Luc Robert, Bridge co-founder Zach Abrams, Wise CTO Harsh Sinha, Blackstone co-CIO Lionel Assant, and Pennylane’s founding team, participated in the round.
Spiko brings attention to the roughly $25 trillion in European bank deposits that currently sit idle, missing out on potential yields and capital efficiency. Unlike in Europe, U.S. businesses commonly earn interest on their cash without sacrificing liquidity. Growing demand for better cash optimization is now pushing European firms to diversify deposits, according to the AMF-regulated fintech firm.
Spiko aims to bridge this cash yield gap between Europe and the U.S. by offering businesses daily interest without lock-ups through what it refers to as Europe’s premier tokenized money market funds. “In Europe, there’s a common misconception that your money won’t earn interest unless you lock it away or assume risk,” Spiko co-founder Paul-Adrien Hyppolite explained. “But as long as central bank rates are above zero, sitting on idle cash implies that European businesses are missing out on returns that U.S. counterparts routinely receive. With Spiko, we’re revolutionizing the system by making it simple for anyone to put their cash to work.”
Spiko was established by Hyppolite and Antoine Michon, both ex-French Treasury and government officials with experience at Palantir. The fintech startup, which began operations a year ago, claims to have processed over $900 million of working capital from more than 1,000 businesses. It has ambitious plans to increase distribution through strategic partnerships with companies like Memo Bank and Fygr, and aims to manage $1 billion in assets by 2025.
Spiko intends to use the newly acquired capital to boost growth in Europe through investment in sales, marketing, product development, and partnership acquisitions, while also preparing for potential U.S. expansion.
Spiko operates by utilizing blockchains, including Ethereum, Arbitrum, and Polygon, to tokenize money market funds and make them more accessible to smaller businesses often overlooked by traditional banks. Acting as a transfer agent on a blockchain ledger, Spiko eliminates legacy custodians and intermediaries, reducing costs and enabling 24/7 cash-equivalent transfers worldwide.
Its funds invest in highly liquid, low-risk assets, such as Eurozone and U.S. Treasury bills, backed by sovereign guarantees and linked to central bank rates. Spiko’s architecture also supports stablecoin transfers as an alternative to wire payments, allowing customers to move funds seamlessly between digital currencies and fiat.
Disclaimer: The Block is an independent news outlet that provides crypto news, research, and data. As of November 2023, Foresight Ventures is a majority investor in The Block. Foresight Ventures invests in other companies in the crypto space. Crypto exchange Bitget is an anchor LP for Foresight Ventures. The Block continues to operate independently to deliver objective, impactful, and timely information about the crypto industry. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.
