Web3 Payments startup Nume Crypto raises $2 million from Sequoia Capital India

Founded by sisters Madhumitha and Niveda Harishankar, Nume Crypto plans to build a near zero-cost payment gateway to process cryptocurrency payments powered by their Layer-2 scaling platform, which will be built on Ethereum.

The platform aims to eliminate “gas fees”, which has become a major problem. Gas fees refers to the fee required to conduct a transaction on the blockchain.  To begin with, the platform will support bitcoin, ethereum and stable coins.

The fresh funds will be used to build the product, find product market fit and onboard clientele. Speaking to Moneycontrol, Harishankar sisters said they would pilot the product for the next few months before launching it.

The platform will offer two products- NumePay and NumePay Business.

NumePay will be a non-custodial wallet that will allow retail consumers to deposit their crypto and start shopping with businesses that integrate with NumePay.

NumePay Business will enable businesses to start offering cryptocurrency payment options to their customers at 1 percent per transaction.

The startup will be first aim for the US market and then move to other “crypto- friendly” jurisdictions such as Singapore, Indonesia and other Asian markets.

“Nume is aiming to make good on the original promise of cryptocurrency, which was to make it accessible for the masses as a payments platform. Their innovative approach and merchant-friendly business model immediately resonated with us and Sequoia Capital India is thrilled to lead their pre-seed Fundraise,” said Shailesh Lakhani, MD, Sequoia India.

Earlier in the day, Sequoia India and Sequoia Southeast Asia said the firm had raised $2.85 billion across a set of funds, including India venture and growth funds and a $850 million Southeast Asia fund, the venture capital firm’s first dedicated fund for the Southeast Asian region.

This year, the American venture firm also announced a separate crypto fund of $600 million.

Sequoia has been an active investor in the crypto space since last year. Its other investments include Coinswitch, Flint and Polygon.