- Less than two-year-old crypto neobank KAST, led by Australian founder Raagulan Pathy, has raised US$80 million in funding, with the fintech platform valued at over US$600 million.
- The stablecoin-based payments company already has more than 1 million global users, and plans to use the backing from leading US venture firms to expand further into the US market.
An Australian-led, stablecoin-based digital bank called KAST, which supports cross-border payments in over 190 countries and has attracted over one million users in less than two years, has raised US$80 million (AU$112m) in Series A funding.
KAST was founded by Aussie Raagulan Pathy, whose career includes serving as USDC stablecoin issuer Circle’s VP for Asia Pacific and CEO Singapore between 2022-2024.
Its funding round was co-led by US venture firms Left Lane Capital and QED Investors. QED Investors Head of Asia Sandeep C Patil said stablecoins were becoming the “always on dollar layer for moving and holding value across borders and assets.”
KAST has reportedly been valued at almost US$670 million (AU$933m), and Pathy said its annual revenue run rate is expected to rise to US$100 million (AU$139m) this year.
This capital raising, the quality of the names who have invested in us and the intense due diligence they undertook is recognition that we’re a high-quality, fast-growing player.
Raagulan PathyPathy told the Australian Financial Review the funding would help KAST expand its US operations. He plans to open a New York office and beef up the company’s compliance expertise to secure new licences in the US, Europe and the Middle East. He said key markets for KAST were the US, UAE and Brazil, with Australian users making up less than one percent of its customer base.
KAST launched its USD digital dollar accounts in July 2024. Accounts can be funded with crypto, stablecoins or cash, enable fiat or stablecoin transfers worldwide, and include a linked card that automatically converts stablecoins to 18+ local currencies at the point of payment.
Related: Tether Secures Deloitte Attestation for US Stablecoin Project — But Not for USDT
Pathy: Raise is One For “The Dreamers”
Announcing the Series A on LinkedIn, Pathy said “the mission was simple, be the stable backbone to people’s financial life, so they can fly as high as they want.” Despite the rapid success, he said his neobank idea had its doubters at first.
Initially there was no belief in my thesis that the biggest opportunity wasn’t stablecoins themselves, but building a global-first financial platform on top of stablecoins.
Raagulan PathyHe also said his journey as a fintech founder had been chequered with failures, and that he’d “built so many side projects, which never went anywhere.”
“KAST is built for the dreamers, and KAST is for believers who trusted us from very early. People like me, a simple dreamer,” Pathy said.
Related: Jamie Dimon Warns Stablecoin Yield Fight Could Threaten US Financial System
He also said he believed KAST could become a trillion dollar company with over a billion users in time.
Pathy started his career in data centre management, management consulting and transformational program management across finance and tech industries. He co-founded a number of tech platforms and then held senior roles at AWS, Facebook, Zoom and Circle before launching KAST in July 2024.
He’s also currently an advisor to MHC Digital Group — an early backer of KAST — which is an Australian crypto investment firm, in addition to running his own crypto-focused fund called JaffCap.
KAST’s rapid rise to prominence also saw it mentioned in the Stripe 2025 annual letter in late February, in a section about the role of fintechs in supporting companies to expand internationally.
Stripe pointed out that fintechs are ironically often constrained by “barriers of financial geography” — noting that Stripe’s issuing product is available in only 22 countries after 7 years, whereas the new breed of fintechs like KAST “are building global financial apps right out of the gate.”
Credit: Source link
