Paytaca bags P24.5M in seed funding for widespread bitcoin cash payment adoption

PAYTACA, a Tacloban City-based financial technology (FinTech) company, has successfully closed its seed funding round, raising around P24.5M ($450,000) from top overseas angel investors.

Founded by Dr. Joemar Taganna (chief executive officer), Aaron JP Almadro (marketing director), and Michael Machica (chief finance officer), the pioneering startup in the cryptocurrency industry has made waves in the market by offering a single cryptocurrency-focused approach instead of adopting multiple cryptocurrencies like many of its competitors.

"Our vision at Paytaca is to create a payment ecosystem that not only empowers individual financial freedom through usage of crypto but also translates its advantages into tangible cost savings for users. With Bitcoin Cash (BCH) at the core of our wallet super app, we are delivering incentives that encourage broader adoption," said Taganna on Friday, July 21, 2023.

According to the company, the new seed funding was backed by “esteemed angel investors” from the cryptocurrency space led by Molecular, Mike Komaransky, Renegade D, and Toorik.

“The injection of funds will accelerate the development and rollout of critical features, expand Paytaca's user base, and establish a robust merchant network, starting in the Philippines and other regions that are considered hotspots of BCH adoption,” Taganna said.

Paytaca has achieved significant milestones with its fully functional, feature-rich BCH wallet app.

Within a short span, the app has garnered approximately 10,000 downloads, with 2,000 active users across Android, Chrome extension, and iOS beta program combined.

Since its inception, Paytaca aims “to revolutionize the payment landscape by promoting the widespread adoption of BCH by providing a streamlined, cost-effective peer-to-peer payment experience.”

In a statement, the company said it had two successful pre-seed funding campaigns in the past year alone.

“Cryptocurrency is usually understood by Filipinos to be purely for trading. Purchase, hold it, and hope it increases value. We, at Paytaca, want to change that by making cryptocurrency usable. Now, through the Paytaca wallet, even simple purchases like a cup of coffee or a doughnut, could be paid with crypto,” said Almadro.

“Locally, we have around a dozen merchants within Tacloban City alone. With the success of our seed funding, we will be able to onboard more merchants and entice more consumers to use BCH through Paytaca,” he added.

According to Almadro, the “strategic choice” for BCH was driven by its “exceptional speed, affordability, programmability, and widespread global usage in payments.”

"Paytaca's commitment to making the benefits of cryptocurrencies accessible and affordable aligns perfectly with our investment philosophy. We are excited to support their vision of a more equitable and free society," said Molecular, one of Paytaca's investors.

“Unlike other traditional wallet companies that merely focus on enabling cryptocurrency storage and spending, Paytaca is committed to creating a range of innovative services within its BCH-focused wallet super app, like online marketplace and delivery services for subscribed merchants as well as peer-to-peer exchange, with low to almost virtually zero service fees,” Paytaca company added. (SunStar Philippines)