JAN3 raises $5 million seed round to accelerate Bitcoin wallet AQUA's development

JAN3, the developers behind the popular Bitcoin wallet AQUA, have raised $5 million in seed funding in order to accelerate development of their Bitcoin-focused superapp. 

The round was led by Fulgur Ventures and included investors such as Tether, Grupo Salinas, Lightning Ventures, East Ventures, and more, according to the company's announcement . The new funding follows a pre-seed round that saw the firm raise $620,000 in early 2023. 

"JAN3’s AQUA wallet has found excellent product-market fit by offering the perfect balance of saving in Bitcoin with spending in USDT," said Paolo Ardoino, CEO of Tether. 

The company also announced it would set aside $1 million of the funding to establish a bitcoin treasury, having acquired 12 BTC at an average cost of $83,333.33 per BTC. 

"The new seed funding will take AQUA to the next phase of its mission to onboard a billion people to Bitcoin," the announcement states. "With the new funding, our priority will shift to growth and adding more Marketplace integrations, such as credit cards, loans, and local on/off ramps." 

The company announced the funding round on January 3, which was the 16th anniversary of the mining of Bitcoin's Genesis Block. The Bitcoin-focused app also supports Blockstream-developed Bitcoin sidechain the Liquid Network , and offers native support for Tether's stablecoin through the integration. 

"We’ve managed to create a Bitcoin Superapp that’s able to deliver real utility and is being used in daily life around the world," said JAN3 CEO Samson Mow. "It just works, and it’s only going to get even better."