The opening month of 2024 continues to be an active one for PayPal as the Silicon Valley giant closes January by investing in Mesh.
In a move which also marks a continuation of the San Jose payments leader’s engagement with blockchain technology, PayPal conducted the investment using PayPal USD (PYUSD), its own US dollar denominated stablecoin.
In doing so, this becomes the first time PayPal’s investment arm, PayPal Ventures, has carried out a cash injection in a business entirely using PYSUD since the ethereum-based, USD-backed stablecoin was launched in August last year.
Amman Bhasin, Partner at PayPal Ventures, said: “As the world of financial services undergoes rapid transformation, we believe that user ownership and portability of assets will become a critical building block of product innovation, with crypto serving as the first beachhead where this is possible.
“Mesh’s commitment to these principles, coupled with its innovative technology, makes them a clear leader in this dynamic landscape. We are confident that this investment will fuel Mesh’s growth and contribute significantly to the advancement of embedded finance and native stablecoins.”
The investment comes shortly after PayPal unveiled six new products, showing the firm’s continuing engagement with emerging and developing technologies – AI in the case of the new features, and blockchain and crypto in the case of the Mesh venture.
PayPal stated that its investment in Mesh – a digital assets transfers and account aggregation platform which is targeting a podium position in embedded finance – is indicative of its ‘commitment to fostering innovation in the digital payments landscape’.
Mesh has been catching significant investment attention of late, having recently completed a $22m Series A funding round with backing from Galaxy, Samsung Next and Money Forward.
For its part in the transaction, Mesh utilised its own Application Programming Interfaces for transfer of the PYUSD funds. Founded in 2020, the company’s core offering revolves around enabling secure crypto transfers and payments into businesses’ existing platforms.
Bam Azizi, Co-Founder and CEO of Mesh, remarked: “We’re thrilled to have the backing of PayPal Ventures as we execute against our vision of becoming the connection layer for a critical mass of crypto platforms and financial service providers.
“PayPal has an incredible track record of moving the payments industry forward, so it’s no surprise they are at the forefront of stablecoin innovation and share our vision for the future of the industry.”
