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Safello – Explore the Blockchain
Elevator pitch
Safello is building the bank of the future on top of blockchain technology. Our goal is to create a single platform to manage your financial life where you are in control. We already have tens of thousands of customers who processed millions worth of USD through our platform and are ready to take it to the next level with your help.
Investor proposal
Invest in a strong foundation:
- Registered as a financial institution in 2013
- Ranked by a top 4 Swedish bank since 2013
- Successfully audited by the Swedish FSA & Tax Authority
- Processed over $11M worth from regular currency to cryptocurrency and vice versa
- Processed 35K orders from over 28K customers
- Closed Barclays and the Swedish police as a customer
- Next product in alpha stage ready to be released Q2/Q3
- Team of cryptocurrency and blockchain experts
- $8.79B market that is rapidly growing
Idea
The problem this product solves
Crypto currencies were invented in 2009 as a way to instantly send money around the world at a fraction of the cost. Bitcoin was the first and is still the largest with a market capitalisation of around $7B as of writing. The underpinning technology is called blockchain and has applications to send any type of value across this network. Safello is uniquely positioned to use this technology to create a new type of banking platform to manage your financial life. It will help you to send money safely in a more cost effective and social way.
How the product solves it
To help our users get started, we created a service to buy crypto currency (Bitcoin to start with) in a safe and user friendly way. We also built and will soon launch the foundation to store crypto currency. This will serve as the base to start integrating different blockchain services to create a unique platform for crypto currency usage. Examples of such services include remittance, lending, crowdfunding, donations, billing, salary payments and market places. Long term, we see numerous opportunities by using so-called smart contracts to make more complex transactions possible on the platform.
Gallery
Product
Product features
– Buy bitcoin
– Sell bitcoin
– Automated PDF receipts to your e-mail
– Order history overview with status
– Bitcoin wallet to store bitcoin ***Not yet released***
Compliance features (this makes Safello a favourite partner of financial institutions):
- Comprehensive know-your-customer process
- Sanction list screening functionality
- Politically exposed person screening
- Bitcoin forensics tools
- Risk profiling, limits and alerts
- Much more…
Product use cases
The current financial system uses something called corresponding banking, meaning that sending money abroad includes high fees and takes many days for the transfer to be processed. By using Safello, you can instantly send money around the world for a negligible fee and get access to all kind of services that are build on top of this blockchain technology. Long-term our goal is to be an addition to your normal bank first and ultimately replace your bank second where the initial focus is on the Nordics and Europe.
Market
Target Market
Our industry SWOT analysis goes into depth on the market nuances. High level, it is apparent that both blockchain technology and crypto currencies are here to stay. Currently there are already 10 million users worldwide, a figure that is set to increase rapidly in the coming years. We have seen a significant positive change in attitude from all stakeholders in our market as well, including regulators and financial institutions. To illustrate this, after 3 years of hardship it was only in Q1 2016 where we suddenly sat around the table with virtually all Nordic banks.
Competitive landscape
Despite over $1B of investment cash going into the Bitcoin/blockchain space, none of our competitors have been able to spark widespread crypto currency adoption. Our competitor Coinbase has moved closer towards becoming a full-fledged exchange platform and Circle Financial is copying the success of Venmo in the United States. Blockchain.info meanwhile does not have any connection to the regular economy and has gotten a bad reputation for its security flaws. We therefore see a major opportunity for Safello to become a true bank replacement by integrating new blockchain services and letting our customers connect their regular bank accounts.
Unique differentiator from competitors
This is what makes Safello unique:
1. Our reputation as a safe actor. It takes time to build trust, but so we did.
2. Not storing any bitcoins ourselves to avoid debacles like the infamous MtGox exchange.
3. The open platform approach lets users pick different services to create their own financial dashboard.
4. Our goal to connect regular bank accounts (possible under the new PSD2 regulation) to create a platform that works both with cryptocurrencies and regular currencies.
Business Model
Company revenue streams
Safello takes a cut between the buy and sell price displayed on our website. This is the model we have successfully been operating since 2013. We also sold an implementation of our platform to Barclays. Our future business model is to monetise third party services that we integrate into our platform. As an example, we may partner up with a lending company and wherever a customer of Safello closes a loan through our platform with said 3rd party, we will take a percentage cut. This can be applied to any service we integrate.
Product/service distribution
Today, Safello is a web application that is accessible through any modern web browser. To attract customers we have done online marketing, gave interviews and spoke at industry events. In the next version of the platform, we aim to make the services available on smartphones. We are also exploring partnerships with companies that have user bases that we can bring to the Safello platform directly.
Execution
Previous milestones/traction
Key figures & milestones:
- 28k registered users
- 35k orders completed
- $11m total turnover
Since our last campaign:
- Successfully audited by the Swedish FSA and Tax Authority
- Closed a deal with Barclays, globally unique (undisclosed revenues)
- Closed the Swedish Police as a customer
- Established a substantial pipeline of financial institutions that are ready to bank Safello and/or work with Safello in a commercial capacity.
- Major platform development progress since the last campaign:
- Migrated to a micro services architecture
- Built a completely new front-end and authentication system
- Built a compliance framework for automated order handling
- Implemented a 3rd party wallet
Next key objectives
- 2016 Q2 Launch of our new front-end with many small improvementss and some major updates to the existing service
- 2016 Q3 Launch of our version of the “browser” starting with the Bitgo wallet implementation.
- 2016 Q3 Reactivate dormant payment methods based on the compliance framework we built.
- 2016 Q3 Expand the brokerage model based on newly formed bank and payment service provider relationships. Optimise liquidity for better margins and end customer pricing.
- 2016 Q4 Start the implementation of selected services to leverage the user experience of our platform.
Previous Financing
To date, Safello has raised approximately $1.2M through several rounds.
In chronological order:
- December 2013 – ~$600K lead by Erik Voorhees followed by key industry players like Roger Ver, Nicolas Cary, Anders Bruzelius and Victor & Victor as well as Board Members & Founders.
- June 2014 – $250K investment by the Digital Currency Group (DCG), the largest bitcoin/blockchain investment fund in the world founded by Barry Silbert. This was their largest investment outside the US.
- March 2015 – ~$300K lead by the DCG and followed by existing shareholders and crowd funders on FundedByMe.
Partnerships
Our partnership with Barclays is our most significant accomplishment. This marked the first time globally, that a Tier One bank partnered with a company to perform a Bitcoin proof-of-concept. It opened the door to similar discussions with other financial institutions. Other partnerships include payment service providers, banks (aside from Barclays) and organisations that strengthen our network and regulatory position. We also have a partnership with a strategic design firm that helps us define how we can make something seemingly complex as crypto currencies accessible to a wider audience.
Industry Recognition
Industry Certification/Awards
2015 highlights:
- Won the Websummit Angel’s Choice Awards
- In 2014 & 2015 selected as Best Cryptocurrency Company by The Europas
- Selected as a BBVA Open Talent Finalist
- Accepted to the prestigious Barclays Accelerator powered by Techstars.
- Wired listed Safello as one of the Hottest Swedish startups
- Business Insider listed Safello as one of the hottest Nordic startups.
Selection of press:
Selection of speaking events:
- TEDx
- Coinsummit
- Money2020
- European Blockchain Congress
- Digital Currency Summit
- PayExpo
- Bank of the Future
- Fintech Storm
- Nordic Cash Management
- Numerous private events for financial institutions
Use of Funds
- Hire development resources to accelerate development
- Extend runway for existing resources to reach key milestones
Exit strategy:
- Short term: platform / acquihire by financial institution
- Mid to long term: platform acquisition by bank or technology company
- Long term: become a public company
Safello has proven itself to be reliable and consistent actor in this new and quickly developing crypto currency/blockchain market. Our last campaign was oversubscribed in a week and as a sign of support, our existing shareholders are already covering 50% of this crowdfunding round. We look forward to have you join our mission!
Team
Jacob Jacobsson
Chairman of the Board of Directors
Mr. Jacob S. Jacobsson served as the Chief Executive Officer of Blaze DFM, Inc. since May, 2006 and served as its President. Since November 2000, Mr. Jacobsson served as the President and Chief Executive Officer of Cynapps, Inc., and its successor by merger, Forte Design Systems. For the five years before that, he served as President and Chief Executive Officer of SCS Corporation. He held executive positions at Xilinx, Cadence, and Daisy. He has been a Director of Actel Corporation since May 1998. He has been a Member of Supervisory Board at ams AG since August 25, 2011. He served as a Director of Cynapps, Inc., and Forte Design Systems. He holds M.S Degree in Computer science and Electrical Engineering from Royal Institute of Technology (Stockholm) and B.A. Degree from University of Stockholm.
Ulrika Axelsson
Board Member
Experienced management consultant primarily focused on Financial Services and Retail. Since July 2012 is building and managing the team within Financial Services at Centigo. Formerly Credit Suisse IT Strategy, management consultant TDA, Regional Director MCE, Swedish Trade Counsil project lead, management consultant XLENT and product manager NE. Holds a M.S. Degree International Business Administration and Economics form the University of Lund.
Frank Schuil
CEO, Co-founder & Board Member
Frank is a Dutch entrepreneur living in Sweden who founded companies in various industries including location based social network IRL Connect, fashion company ClickClacks and indoor positioning company Qubulus. He was also part of initiating the Verbeterdebuurt foundation that unites citizens and municipalities to improve neighbourhoods and pioneered as a Dutch rapper pre-dating his entrepreneurial life. As CEO & Co-founder of Safello he is heading the efforts to help tens of thousands of customers in and out of the cryptocurrency economy in a safe an compliant way. Frank is a frequent speaker at events such as TEDx, Money2020, Coinsummit, Bank of the Future, PayExpo, Fintech Storm, Nordic Cash Management and the Digital Currency Summit. He is the Nordic Ambassador for Innovate Finance, City Leader for the distributed angel investment network BitAngels and in 2015 Hot Topic listed him as one of the 100 most influential people in FinTech globally.
Joakim Johansson
Lead Developer & Co-founder
Joakim has been working in the Bitcoin/blockchain industry since early 2013 developing software for the Swedish market. He studied Computer- and Systems Sciences at Stockholm University. Joakim is Safello’s safety net on the tech side, making sure that operations run smoothly.
Patric Stiller
Head of Legal & Compliance
Patric is bringing clarity to the often confusing legislation surrounding cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology. He has a legal/finance background working for Swedbank, one the top banks in northern Europe and studied law at the University of Stockholm. Formerly worked with Agreement24 and has been working in the cryptocurrency space since 2013.
Summary:
Safello is building the bank of the future on top of blockchain technology. Our goal is to create a single platform to manage your financial life where you are in control.
Safello is building the bank of the future on top of blockchain technology. Our goal is to create a single platform to manage your financial life where you are in control.
Youtube: https://youtu.be/UjjaN6NCGBU
See Campaign: http://www.fundedbyme.com/en/campaign/7593/safello-crowdfunding-campaign-ii
Contact Information:
Jacob Jacobsson – Chairman of the Board of Directors
Tags:
FundedByMe, English, Crowdfunding, Equity, Europe
The post Safello – Explore the Blockchain: Safello is building the bank of the future on top of blockchain technology. appeared first on iCrowdNewswire.
Source: Icrowdnewswire
