Danish Fintech startup, Ztlment, claims it is the “first” in Europe to gain a license that “lets it operate fully regulated payments on top of blockchain.”
The company has “raised €1.3 million in pre-seed funding from venture funds specializing in fintech.” The startup’s smart contract software “moves euros instantly and automatically on blockchain in full regulatory compliance.”
Co-founder and CEO, Mads Stolberg-Larsen said:
“Our goal is to build a completely frictionless system where business partners don’t have to bother with complex banking infrastructure nor deal with volatile crypto currency, unregulated stablecoins or complicated consensus mechanisms,”
Blockchain and programmable money have “been some of the most hyped technologies over the past five years, but mainstream adoption has been slow.” The main two reasons for this “are bad user experiences and regulatory uncertainty according to the founders.”
Stolberg-Larsen remarked:
“The benefits of the technology are clear. Digital marketplaces and cloud-based B2B platforms can instantly and automatically move money and value between buyers, sellers and financiers. However, so far user experiences have not been built for business workflows and compliance with European payments regulation has been missing.”
Ztlment’s smart contract software has now been “approved under Payment Service Directive 2 (PSD2), a European open banking framework, in a regulatory first. European regulator, Danish Financial Supervisory Authority granted the license.”
Co-founder and COO, Harry Kearney, added:
“We are opening a new playing field for moving euros and other fiat currencies between business partners with simple IF-THIS-THEN-MONEY logic. It is like direct debit, but with rocket engines on.”
When milestones are hit or relevant workflow events recorded, funds are “moved peer-to-peer in five seconds or alternatively paid out to traditional bank accounts.” All transactions are “done in euros and other fiat currencies and in full compliance with PSD2.”
Co-founder and CTO, Jason Spasovski noted:
“Our customers can focus on building great user experiences and safely harness the benefits of the technology.”
Ztlment is “targeting digital marketplaces and other cloud-based business platforms, which connect buyers and sellers.” With a snippet of code, they can “link money and value to existing workflows – or build entirely new ones with smart contract software embedded from day one.”
The risk between trade participants and financial partners “can thereby be reduced as funds only move when relevant milestones are hit.”
This opens up for data driven trade finance models, which in turn “can bring much needed working capital to sellers around the world.”
The team has been “backed by Upfin, a Nordic fintech fund, and Giant Ventures.”
As noted in the update, Ztlment is “a European payment service provider offering smart contract software that is fully compliant with PSD2.”
With a snippet of code, digital marketplaces and cloud-based B2B platforms can offer business workflows, which instantly and automatically move money and value between buyers, sellers and financiers.
The company is “founded by Mads Stolberg-Larsen, Jason Spasovski and Harry Kearney and is headquartered in Copenhagen.” It is registered “as a payments institution with the Danish Financial Supervisory Authority (FTID 22043).”