According to an article on the Wall Street Journal on April 2nd, the Blockchain–based payment platform Celo has secured a $30 million in a funding round, including angel investors and venture capital firms such as US-based venture capital firm Polychain Capital, Andreessen Horowitz and Reid Hoffman – co-founder of LinkedIn.

CELO – an open-source startup and a trademark of A Protocol Inc – is building a new in-house cryptocurrency as well as a stablecoin, which aim to support cross-border transactions via a smartphone application.

With a total sum of $6.4 million invested in past funding rounds, the firm is initiating the pilot stage for their new projects.

“We see big potential in letting people — directly on their smartphone — access basic financial services,”. We are based on blockchain technology but for the average end user we try to abstract that away, to make the experience as easy as any other mobile app.” Celo co-founder Rene Reinsberg expressed.

The projects for 2 new digital tokens are Celo’s initial phase of a bigger plan – integrating further developments to enhance the company’s systems. The first cryptocurrency will be used as a tool to help verify transactions, while the dollar-pegged stable coin – named Celo Dollar – will be used as a native cryptocurrency and can be transferred from one Celo user to another through a mobile app.

A majority of crypto-related startups have always been investing heavily in cross-border payments without banking credentials. The Kenya-based crypto payment company BitPesa was one of the pioneering startups in smartphone payments penetration a few years back.