Strike, a leading payment provider for the Bitcoin Lightning Network, has raised $80 million in a Series B funding round led by bitcoin-focused investment firm Ten31, according to a press release.
“We believe Strike is poised to disrupt the financial services and payments landscape, enabling a more efficient, innovative and inclusive financial experience for everyone,” said Grant Gilliam, co-founder and managing partner of Ten31.
In addition, Washington University in St. Louis and the University of Wyoming also contributed to the fund, which will be used to fuel Strike’s initiative to revolutionize payments for merchants, marketplaces and financial institutions.
“We’re moving full speed ahead not only to integrate Strike’s revolutionary payments with leading merchants, but globally with a variety of companies and partners to innovate and deliver greater financial inclusion,” said Jack Mallers, Founder and CEO by Strike.
The funding follows Strike’s launch of an open application programming interface (API) that was initially announced at the Bitcoin 2022 conference in Miami. The API allows companies like the largest global payment provider BlackHawk to facilitate bitcoin and fiat payments over the Lightning Network.
In addition, global e-commerce platform Shopify and the National Cash Register have also begun leveraging Strike’s API. The funding collected will be used to strengthen these associations, but also to acquire new ones.
“Every company in the business of moving money is interested in superior payments, and we’re in conversations with many of them. It doesn’t get any bigger and more exciting than innovating in payments for the betterment of the world,” Mallers said.
In addition, the company will also explore new product offerings tailored specifically for financial institutions and other businesses to send and receive payments.
“We can empower businesses to move money in a way that networks like card networks and SWIFT can’t, and we pay these partners in the form of fees to do it, which makes it an exciting innovation for to everyone,” Mallers concluded.
