We’re thrilled to announce that GD1 Web3 Fund 1 has invested in Jerome Faury, Matic Lesjak and Nathan Jones by investing in Immersve’s pre-seed round. Immersve has built an innovative issuing-as-a-service platform that supports both centralised and decentralised payment experiences. Immersve is a NZ-based crypto company and we are proud to be the only NZ-based venture fund supporting them on their journey. 

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Mastercard partnership - reimagining the payment stack for crypto  

Immersve recently announced their partnership with Mastercard to deliver a world-first web3 payment innovation in Australia and New Zealand, giving consumers the ability to use digital assets directly from their web3 wallet to make digital, physical or even metaverse purchases, wherever Mastercard is accepted.  Exchanges and decentralised apps (dApps), like web3 wallets and decentralised finance (DeFi) protocols can easily integrate with Immersve’s APIs and smart contracts to transact.

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Self-custody

One of our Fund’s core beliefs is that individuals should have complete control over and access to their digital assets at any point in time.

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Importantly, Immersve’s solution does not require a user’s digital assets to be held as collateral by a third party; which means users remain in complete control of their digital currency at all times. 

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The importance of self-custody has been re-emphasised over the past year in the world of crypto, especially following the aftermath of the FTX collapse. 

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The ‘basics’ and fundamental beliefs around crypto, established in the Bitcoin Whitepaper, remind us why it's imperative to remain ‘sovereign’ and that there is a clear need for tools and products to empower individuals to custody their own digital assets.  “Not your keys, not your crypto” is a saying widely used within the world of crypto, and yet it’s the one thing that many seem to either have forgotten or ignored when they design new web3 products. 

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We were impressed that Immersve allows users to have custody of their own assets while simultaneously allowing them to spend wherever a Mastercard is accepted. This is a much-needed innovation and differentiates Immersve from the other organisations that require users to custody their assets with them.

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Bridging Web3 and Web2 applications

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Immersve uses decentralised protocols, such as smart contracts, to bridge web3 and web2 applications. It will partner with a third-party settlement provider and its customers will use USDC, a widely used US dollar stablecoin, for all purchases. USDC will then be converted to fiat currency and settled on Mastercard’s network. The partnership with Mastercard will also address KYC/AML, online fraud detection and blockchain analytics, leveraging the Mastercard Identity Services and CipherTrace solutions. (More detail on how Immersve works can be found here.)

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Immersve is gearing up to launch its platform later this year in New Zealand and Australia; while pursuing licenses in other jurisdictions.

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A highly credible team 

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I have known Jerome for the past few years and have witnessed first-hand his ability to execute in building successful fintech products. The decision to back this team was made much easier because of their decades of unparalleled experience in payments, combined with their vision to reimagine the payment stack for crypto.  

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If you’re keen to learn more about or potentially join the next great Kiwi Web3 project, check out their website and Discord.

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Final note of thanks

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In closing, I would like to express appreciation to all those who helped make this investment happen. Thank you, in particular, to the GD1 team. Your tireless support and determination to add value to founding teams is appreciated. 

Check them out

Website / LinkedIn

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We are actively looking to support more web3 projects. If you’re building something in the space, please do get in touch. Our DMs are open. :)

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