American Express and Visa alumni raise $4 million for Rhythmic, which partners with brands to provide financial products for their customers
· Fortune
Even as stablecoins gain popularity, Aaron Marks and Joseph Hayes believe the technology is still primarily used by crypto natives and people in emerging markets. Now, the two former credit card execs have founded a startup called Rhythmic to bring stablecoins to the broader market. Rhythmic’s strategy revolves around partnering with consumer-facing companies to provide cash back, rewards programs, and other financial products for the brands’ customers.
Rhythmic announced on Thursday that it raised a $4 million seed round led by Dragonfly, with support from Mirana Ventures, The Fintech Fund, and other backers. Marks, the CEO of the company, did not disclose the company’s valuation in an interview with Fortune.
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“We are giving everyday users the power of stablecoins through brands that they already know and trust,” said Hayes, the company’s CPTO. “We’re embedding stablecoin financial services into existing user brands that everyone uses today.”
Rhythmic aspires to partner with brands to create a financial product that includes balances, payments, and rewards for those companies’ customers. Its vision is for a wide range of firms to emulate the well-known Starbucks loyalty program or Walmart’s OnePay credit card, but with low-cost implementation.
The startup did not disclose the companies it will partner with but said it is targeting medium and large-sized consumer brands. Users would be able to deposit money into a stored value account embedded within the brand’s ecosystem. Users would also get a co-branded Visa card and earn rewards. Stablecoins would power the infrastructure and money movement behind the scenes.
Rhythmic says its program allows brands to forge deeper ties with users by becoming the center of their financial life. And for users, they would accrue value in this ecosystem, according to Marks.
The two co-founders have a combined background in crypto, payments, and large consumer-facing companies. Marks worked at American Express for more than five years and then at Circle, and Hayes worked at Mastercard for more than eight years, then was the head of crypto and stablecoins product at Walmart. They feel that this combination of experiences allows them to create a stablecoin-powered user experience that makes sense for the masses.
The startup plans to launch midyear and does not yet have revenue. Rhythmic until very recently had just three employees but will expand to about six employees by the end of the month. The new capital will also allow the company to invest more in compliance.
This story was originally featured on Fortune.com