Tallinn, 6th April: Wert.io, the first checkout for NFTs, has raised €4 million in a seed round to expand geographic coverage and to continue building innovative Web3 infrastructure solutions.
Wert, the first payment gateway to introduce direct NFT purchase with credit cards, has raised €4 million in an all-equity seed round led by UK-based crypto fund Tagus Capital.
The round saw additional participation from several Web3 and fintech venture capital investors from the U.S., Asia, and Europe, including Element Ventures [now 13books], VR Ventures, Digital Horizon, JDAC and Tezos Foundation.
Wert uses embedded finance technology in order to simplify purchasing of NFTs and other DeFi products. Its payment module facilitates user acquisition by bringing under the hood – regulatory, compliance, payments and blockchain interoperability for projects. The Tallinn-based startup has conquered a large market portion since going live with the first NFT marketplace in April 2021.
The service is easy to plug-in and is already operating on big NFT projects such as Rarible, Mintable and KnowOrigin and has established partnerships with retail players that are especially interested in a solution that looks familiar to online shoppers and non-crypto natives.
As George Basiladze, co-founder of Wert says, the startup is aiming to create a solution for businesses who wish to keep their decentralised nature and challenger spirit yet remain accessible to the general public.
The new funds will be used to expand geographic coverage and to continue building innovative financial infrastructure solutions for Web3 startups.
George Basiladze, co-founder of Wert, commented: “Wert means ‘value’ in German – and we want to manifest this meaning in all its multidimensionality. For our clients, more value means gaining more utility from the tools we build. This brand philosophy dictates that our roadmap will include solutions focused on adding the crucial financial tools to crypto-based startups.”
Michael McFadgen, Partner at Element Ventures [now 13books], commented: “As NFTs move mainstream so must the tools that companies and consumers use to access the space. Wert’s NFT payment gateway is doing just that by allowing consumers to buy NFTs using traditional debit and credit cards – greatly simplifying the purchase process and accelerating mainstream adoption. The team’s early partnerships, such as Rarible and Mintable, are fantastic early validation of their approach and technology. We’re excited to partner with George and his team in bringing Wert to many more partners.”
Gui Silva, Partner of Tagus Capital, commented: “Wert addresses three key pain-points of the crypto industry, providing an enhanced experience for users buying NFTs and crypto, interoperability of user identity among blockchains, and integration between on-chain and off-chain businesses. And Wert is well-positioned to be a leader in the sector.”
Philipp Werner, Investment Manager at Redstone/VR Ventures, commented: “Through Wert it will be easy for non-crypto owners to buy NFTs and participate in the Web3 ecosystem. The intuitive check-out interface makes it possible to purchase virtual assets within seconds and existing users of Wert only have to do one KYC process when using Wert’s partner marketplaces.”
As NFTs move mainstream so must the tools that companies and consumers use to access the space.
