The Velo Protocol developed by Lightnet earns $ 31 million

Bangkok-based Lightnet has secured $ 31.2 million in funding from a number of investors. They will thus be able to develop the Velo protocol, based on the Stellar blockchain, to facilitate international money transfers.

Lightnet will initially focus on the Southeast Asian market, saying it intends to disrupt an industry dependent on traditional “slow” and “costly” financial institutions.

“It is vital to build an ecosystem that gives Lightnet access to our partners’ vast user base and facilitates deeper penetration into local markets. We anticipate that within three years, Lightnet will facilitate annual transactions worth over $ 50 billion through our network of partners ”,

said Tridbodi Arunanondchai, vice president of Lightnet.

The first financing round for the Velo protocol

The financing round included a number of Asian financial and business companies. These included UOB Venture Management, an investment group of United Overseas Bank, based in Singapore. Another investor is Seven Bank, which is part of the group that owns the 7-Eleven franchise in Japan. They also included Uni-President Asset Holdings, a Taiwanese food conglomerate.

HashKey Capital is the investment subsidiary of the Chinese group WanXiang. Hopeshine Ventures, Signum Capital, Du Capital, and Hanwha Investment and Securities, a South Korean investment group, are other participants in the investment round.

The chairman of Lightnet, Chatchaval Jiaravanon, is the son of Sumet Jiaravanon, the executive chairman of Thailand’s largest conglomerate, Charoen Pokphand Group. He bought Fortune magazine for $ 150 million in 2018.

Jiaravanon said earlier this month that Lightnet will grow in part due to planned acquisitions.

Lightnet is building several solutions, the first being expected to carry out its inaugural transaction this quarter. The company’s CEO, Suvicha Sudchai, said the plans include hiring more than 500,000 agents across Asia. They also plan partnerships with remittance firms such as MoneyGram, Seven Bank, Yeahka and Ksher.