- Rain Financial Inc. has secured financial backing from Coinbase and MEVP in its latest funding series
- The Middle East crypto startup received as much as $6 million in the Series A funding
- Rain became the first regulated custodian firm in the Middle East in 2019
- Rain has expressed its intentions to expand its services throughout the region
In its recent funding, Rain Financial Inc., digital currency exchange and custodian service, Rain Financial Inc., has secured backing from the biggest crypto exchange in the United States, Coinbase Inc., among others.
Rain Financial Inc., was the first fully-regulated crypto exchange in the Middle East and operates mainly in the Middle East and North Africa. The firm is also registered with the U.S. Security and Exchange Commission and incorporated in the state of Delaware, United States.
Rain succeeded in raising a total of $6 million in the Series A funding. The Series A funding round was led by venture-capital firm Middle East Venture Partners (MEVP) and saw participation from the likes of;
- U.S. based crypto exchange, Coinbase
- Dubai-based DIFC Fintech Fund
- Private-equity investor Vision Ventures
- Jameel Investment Management Co.
- Chicago-based CMT Digital Venture LLC
What is Rain Financial Inc.?
Rain Financial Inc. is a digital asset and custodian firm that was launched in September 2017. Rain received its Bahrain license in 2019 after a two-year regulatory sandbox process. The first of its kind in the region.
In the same year, the startup 2019 closed a $2.5 million funding round co-led by BitMEX Ventures and Kuwait-based cryptocurrency fund Blockwater. In December 2020, Rain also completed a $9 million funding round.
Sponsored
In total, the startup has raised a total of $17.9. With the accumulated funds, the startup is attempting to position itself to become a leading crypto player in the region.
On the Flipside
- Russian cryptocurrency exchange Livecoin has announced a full shutdown of its servers following an alleged hack in December 2020.
- In late December, the exchange abruptly halted operations after its servers were thrown offline.
- A 2020 report revealed that cybercriminals stole as much as $3.8 billion worth of different cryptocurrencies in 122 attacks in 2020.
- This shows that although the crypto industry is making giant strides, there is still work to be done before it becomes perfect.
Targeting the Middle Eastern Markets
In an interview, Yehia Badaway, the co-founder of Rain Financial Inc. explained that the Middle East region was seeing an increase in registrations and transaction volumes.
He notes that institutional investors, professional investors, and retail clients have all increased in the region. Rain Financial plans to use the funds for a regional expansion and to grow its engineering team, Badawy said.
The Rain Financial Inc. team explained:
We are confident that our investors, who are regional and international leaders, will support us as we continue to drive towards our vision of reaching mass adoption of crypto-assets
Badaway also notes that the firm is currently in talks with regulators in the Middle East to widen its reach. The U.S based Coinbase clearly sees potential in Rain’s operations as well, hence their involvement in the project.
