Kulipa, a Paris-based stablecoin card issuing infrastructure platform, has raised $6.2 million in seed funding to accelerate the adoption of real-world stablecoin payments across global fintech platforms.
The funding round was co-led by Flourish Ventures and 1kx, with participation from White Star Capital and Fabric Ventures. The investment will support the expansion of Kulipa’s regulated issuing capabilities across Europe, Latin America and Africa.
Kulipa enables payroll, cross-border payments, digital banking and spend management platforms to issue globally accepted payment cards funded directly from stablecoin balances, bridging blockchain-based settlement with everyday transactions.
Stablecoins now process more than $300 billion in daily settlement, yet they remain a small fraction of global payment flows. Industry challenges persist due to fragmented infrastructure, capital-intensive requirements and reliance on prefunded models tied to regional licensing. As regulatory clarity improves, fintech firms are increasingly seeking compliant and scalable solutions to integrate stablecoins into mainstream financial products.
Kulipa aims to address this gap through a stablecoin-native issuing infrastructure designed to improve capital efficiency, compliance and global scalability. Its platform allows partners to launch payment programmes funded directly from stablecoin balances, supporting both prefunded deployments and deeper wallet integrations. By verifying balances and triggering settlement onchain, the company reduces dependence on collateral-heavy prefunding and enables more sustainable scaling.
Cards issued via Kulipa can be used wherever major card networks are accepted, including for retail purchases and ATM withdrawals. The company also assumes fraud liability for its issued programmes, easing operational risks for fintech partners.
“Stablecoins have proven their value as a settlement layer, but using them in everyday financial products is still early,” said Axel Cateland, Founder and CEO of Kulipa. “Card issuance is the bridge between onchain balances and real-world payments. We built Kulipa to give regulated fintech platforms the compliant, capital-efficient infrastructure they need to operate at global scale.”
Kulipa operates a local-first issuing model with regulated coverage across the European Union, Argentina and Nigeria, and is preparing for expansion into the United States through BIN sponsorship. This regulatory footprint aligns with evolving compliance standards and allows fintech platforms to operate within established financial systems.
Since launching its infrastructure in February 2025, Kulipa has issued more than 120,000 cards and signed 20 customers, including Flutterwave, Solflare, nSave and Ready. The company has also recorded 70 per cent month-on-month growth in transaction volume, reflecting rising demand for stablecoin-enabled payment solutions across both emerging and developed markets.
“At Flutterwave, we’re focused on building payment infrastructure that works across markets at scale. As stablecoins become a more practical settlement option, it’s important that businesses can turn those balances into real-world spending,” said Olugbenga Agboola, Founder & CEO of Flutterwave. "Partnering with Kulipa allows us to extend stablecoin value into globally accepted payments in a compliant, scalable way.”
“Kulipa has enabled Ready to become an onchain alternative to banks,” said Itamar Lesuisse, CEO of Ready. “With their infrastructure, we can issue globally accepted cards directly from stablecoin balances, giving our users seamless access to everyday spending in a compliant and scalable way.”
Kulipa was founded in 2023 by a team with experience across payments, compliance and financial infrastructure. Cateland previously led global Apple Pay and Google Pay deployments at Mastercard, while co-founder and CTO Michael Shynar built commerce infrastructure at WhatsApp and spent nearly a decade as a staff engineer at Google. Head of Compliance Benoit Roger brings regulatory experience from Binance and Nickel Bank, while Head of Go-To-Market Josephine Soublin previously led Klarna’s launch in France.
“We’re seeing stablecoins moving beyond cross-border settlement and becoming part of real financial infrastructure,” said Ameya Upadhyay, General Partner at Flourish Ventures. “The missing piece has been compliant, scalable card issuance. Kulipa fills that gap by combining capital efficiency with multi-region regulatory coverage, enabling fintech platforms to bring stablecoin settlement into everyday payments.”
1kx Founding Partner Christopher Heymann added, “Stablecoins are reshaping how money moves globally, but for mainstream adoption, people need to spend them as easily as they spend fiat. Kulipa meets users where they already are, starting with the card in their wallet, and gives businesses a turnkey way to offer that experience. We believe this payments layer is critical infrastructure for the next phase of crypto adoption.”
The latest round brings Kulipa’s total funding to $9.2 million. As stablecoins continue to evolve, the company is positioning itself to make stablecoin-based payments as seamless and widely accepted as traditional card transactions.
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