Paris-based stablecoin card issuing infrastructure platform Kulipa recently raised USD 6.2 million in seed funding co-led by Flourish Ventures and 1kx, with participation from White Star Capital and Fabric Ventures.
The company, which operates as a compliance-first, local-first model with regulated coverage across Europe, Latin America, Nigeria, and the United States, provides fintech platforms (including payroll, cross-border payments, digital banking, and spend management solutions) with the ability to issue globally accepted payment cards, funded directly from stablecoins, bridging the gap between on-chain settlement and real-world payments.
With this latest round, Kulipa’s total funding reaches USD 9.2 million. The company wants to use the capital to create solutions that will make stablecoin spending seamless and widely accepted, just like traditional card payments, helping the fintech industry to operate as a fully integrated model, where industry players will act like on-chain-enabled financial institutions.
Kulipa’s successful fundraising also comes amid stablecoins becoming the new normal in the virtual payment space, settling more than USD 300 billion daily. However, the cryptocurrency still has a drawback: a lack of efficient infrastructure connecting on-chain settlement systems with regulated card networks.
“Existing solutions are often fragmented, capital-intensive, and dependent on prefunded structures and region-specific licenses. As regulatory clarity improves worldwide, fintech companies increasingly require compliant, scalable issuing infrastructure to convert stablecoin balances into usable financial products,” reported Africa Business.
To resolve this problem, Kulipa’s stablecoin-native issuing platform has been tailored to address challenges such as capital efficiency, regulatory compliance and global scalability. Fintech partners using the company’s solution are now launching payment programmes funded directly from stablecoin balances, supporting rapid prefunded deployments and deep wallet-native integrations.
“Stablecoins have proven their value as a settlement layer, but using them in everyday financial products is still early. Card issuance is the bridge between on-chain balances and real-world payments. We built Kulipa to give regulated fintech platforms the compliant, capital-efficient infrastructure they need to operate at a global scale,” said Axel Cateland, Founder and CEO of Kulipa, while interacting with Africa Business.
By verifying balances and settling transactions on-chain, Kulipa has reduced the fintech industry’s reliance on collateral-heavy prefunding models and enabled more sustainable scaling. Stablecoin cards issued via Kulipa can be used everywhere, including retail payments and ATM withdrawals. Kulipa also assumes the role of performing fraud liability, removing a massive operational burden for fintech partners.