Wayra, Telefónica's flagship open innovation program, is investing in Depasify, the Spanish startup that facilitates the convergence of the traditional financial world and digital assets for both web3-native companies and traditional financial institutions such as banks and asset managers. In the financial sector, a "digital asset" refers to a digital representation of value that is recorded and transferred using blockchain technology. These assets, which range from cryptocurrencies to tokens representing tangible assets, are characterized by their decentralized nature and their ability to facilitate secure and transparent transactions without the need for traditional intermediaries. These are innovative instruments in the financial sector, offering new opportunities and challenges in terms of regulation and risk management. The fintech company has created an agile and accessible core banking system based on digital assets in a fast and simple way, thanks to bringing together the various stakeholders and orchestrating the entire value chain on a single platform. This infrastructure focuses not only on technology but also on regulatory compliance, simplifying transactional reconciliation between both worlds. Wayra has participated in a funding round of over €2 million, led by JME Ventures and GoHub Ventures, with participation from other investors such as Andbank and Lanai Capital Partners. The goal is to secure new capital to achieve massive international expansion, as well as to expand the team to scale operations. “At Depasify, we take care of the boring but essential part of digital assets. We want to simplify our clients’ lives, allowing them to focus on what truly matters: scaling their businesses,” said Alberto Mazaira, CEO of Depasify. “Thanks to Depasify, the banking sector will be more united than ever, bringing together the best of both worlds—traditional banking and disruptive new entrants—on a single platform to manage all their assets. We hope that, with our support and knowledge of the banking startup ecosystem, they can soon reach new markets and expand their teams to improve the end-customer experience,” explained Paloma Castellano, director of Wayra Madrid.
About Depasify
It is a Spanish fintech company that facilitates the construction of financial products based on digital assets for Web3 companies and traditional financial institutions, through a core banking system for digital assets that simplifies integration and reconciliation tasks, reducing operating costs and time to market.
About Wayra
Since 2011, Wayra has been Telefónica's main program for connecting with the entrepreneurial ecosystem around the world. It has seven locations covering nine countries in Latin America and Europe, through which it invests in and supports startups. Wayra invests in startups with the potential to generate business with Telefónica, that are ready to scale, preferably in one of the following sectors: Entertainment (Gaming and Video), IoT, Big Data, Artificial Intelligence, eHealth, Fintech, Energy, Metaverse, and Web3. Wayra always invests in partnership with other VCs in founder-controlled startups with a ticket of up to €350k.
Since 2022, we have been managing capital for Telefónica Group companies through Vivo Ventures and Íope Ventures.
In these eleven years, Wayra has invested €68M in 870 startups and currently has more than 400 startups in its portfolio, of which more than 170 work with Telefónica.
More information available at www.wayra.es