Belo, an Argentine crypto startup that offers a digital wallet, has raised $3 million in a seed round to operate in Mexico and Brazil in 2022.
Companies including CRV, The Venture City, Newtopia and Latitude participated in the round, the company announced Thursday.
Belo, which began operations in Argentina in September 2021, allows the buying and selling of Bitcoin, Ether, DAI and Tether (USDT) with Argentine pesos, and also offers returns with these cryptocurrencies.
The company was the first to issue a crypto mastercard in Latin America, offering cashback ranging from 2% to 21%, CEO Manuel Beaudroit told CoinDesk.
Belo has 170,000 users on its platform and plans to reach 1 million by 2022 in Argentina alone, Beaudroit said, adding that the company is increasing the number of users by 100% every month.
In the second quarter of 2022, Belo plans to launch a service for legal entities with the goal of attracting companies and businesses to the crypto world. "There is a very big opportunity to improve the conditions for companies and businesses to manage their finances," Beaudroit said. The startup also plans to introduce new features, such as creating estimates with its debit card.
The company is not ruling out raising a Series A by the end of 2022, said Beaudroit, who notes the interest of global venture capital firms in the Latin American crypto ecosystem. "There is more and more access to capital to develop companies," he added.
Belo will use some of the funds to double its team from the current 30 employees by the end of 2022, Beaudroit said.