7 July, 2021 — Today, the world’s first membership-powered financial service for crypto and fiat — hi — announced strategic investment partnerships with three of the world’s leading innovation and technology funds:
HashKey — Global Fintech Fund: A leader in the digital asset community, portfolio spans blockchain technology, exchange platforms, capital, custody and liquidity. Notable recent investments include BlockFi, Polkadot and Animoca Brands.
Hashed — Global Blockchain Fund: Founded in 2017 and with a footprint across Seoul and Silicon Valley, global portfolio includes investments in EOS, Ethereum and Terra.
Longling Capital — Global internet and de-fi Fund: Founded by Mike Cai — China’s preeminent angel investor — portfolio includes some of China’s largest internet and technology companies: 265.com, Meitu and 4399.
hi’s pilot service is a cross-ecosystem financial services platform through the world’s most popular social media messengers, such as WhatsApp and Telegram. In less than two months of private-beta, hi has amassed 300,000+ members from over 130 countries. The investment will be used to accelerate hi’s impressive early membership growth, with a focus on product innovation and deeper penetration into key geographies.
Founded by former CEO of Bitcoin.com, Stefan Rüst, and former CMO of Crypto.com, Sean Rach, the hi team is composed of leading figures from some of the world’s most pioneering tech and finance companies, including Tencent, Alibaba, JP Morgan and Morgan Stanley.
DENG Chao, Managing Director of HashKey, remarked: “Our goal is to create lasting value for the blockchain and digital asset management communities over the long run. More than most projects, we see genuine utility and a sustainable, long-term future for hi, which is reaffirmed by the rapid growth in its membership base after just 2 months.”
Hashed CEO & Managing Partner Simon Kim added: “The vision for hi epitomises our belief that technology should be used to empower better futures for individuals. We intend to contribute resources, infrastructure and network to be a driving force in rapidly unlocking hi’s full potential. ”
Longling Capital Partner Dongfeng Wang states: “We envision a near future where technology acts as the enabler for bringing de-centralised finance to a global, mass audience. hi’s vision, team and impressive membership growth aligns perfectly with Longling’s strategy, and we are in no doubt that our expertise will supercharge hi’s future”
“We could not be more excited and humbled by this support,” — said hi Co-founder, Sean Rach. “These three venture funds are pioneers within their fields and bring a wealth of experience across the fintech, blockchain and internet spaces and particularly in Asia. Their experience, teams and proven track record — combined with our international team — should serve as a multiplier effect to our mission to drive mass adoption for hi.”
This announcement comes on the back of hi’s strategic partnership with First Class Capital (易昊资本) to drive further growth in key territories.
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About Hashed
Founded by a team of serial entrepreneurs and engineers in 2017, Hashed is the preeminent blockchain firm in Asia with a portfolio that spans the globe. The Hashed mission is to accelerate the mass adoption of blockchain by investing their own resources and empowering a new wave of entrepreneurs and innovators who are creating this future. For more information, visit hashed.com.
About HashKey
HashKey empowers institutions to capture opportunities in digital assets and blockchain technology. As a leader in the digital asset community and with offices in Hong Kong, Singapore and Japan, HashKey’s global portfolio spans projects across blockchain technology, exchange platforms, capital, custody and liquidity. Notable recent investments include BlockFi, Polkadot and Animoca Brands. For more information, visit hashkey.com.
About Longling Capital
Longling Capital is a Chinese venture capital firm specialising in seed stage, early stage and angel investments. Longling was founded by Mike Cai, and includes 265.com, Meitu and 4399 among its portfolio. For more information, visit longling.com
About hi
hi is leveraging blockchain technology to build services that are community powered. Members of hi are the key stakeholders of this ecosystem and the business is committed to maximize membership value — not profits. Our first product is a digital wallet that provides members with the most seamless payment experience via social messengers (initially Telegram and WhatsApp, next LINE, Facebook Messenger, Viber and others). For more information, visit hi.com.
For more information, please contact: sam@hi.com