Crypto neo-bank Shield announced on Monday that it has raised a $5 million seed round led by Giant Ventures.
The company launched in 2022 and pivoted to payments in 2024. It allows exporters and importers to conduct cross-border transactions in US cryptocurrencies, while also providing compliance screenings, such as addressing sanctions and money laundering threats.
Emmanuel Udotong, co-founder and CEO, said he and his team started Shield because they were “disappointed by the lack of completing mainstream use cases for crypto.” Meanwhile, “bad actors” kept filling the space — and the headlines.
“We wanted to help bring blockchain technology into the real economy by solving real problems,” Udotong told TechCrunch. So, he teamed up with his brother Isaiah and his college best friend, Luis Carchi, and to address how stablecoins could be used in international payments, as that was a pain point the trio faced when they last tried to build a trade business.
“Today, trade businesses in regions like Latin America, Africa, and parts of Asia often wait days or weeks for international wires, pay high fees, and in many cases, can’t access US dollars at all,” Udotong continued. “Many companies face limited trade corridors, less buyer opportunities, stunted growth, and, in too many cases, failure.”
That’s where Shield comes in, which Udotong said hopes to let international businesses amplify their reach — and profit — by expanding access to customers in different markets. It said it’s registered as a Money Service Business in the US and registered as a crypto exchange in the EU.
Crypto has had a roaring comeback this past year, minting new unicorns and nabbing hundreds of millions of dollars, after a r …