Question 1

Hi Alan, the remittance and payments space is an exciting area around the world. But I'm not entirely convinced by ZipZap and have some questions here which I hope you can answer: (1) I don't know if you should be calling ZipZap a blockchain solution; essentially you're taking...

Accepted Answer

Hi Edwin; Thank you for your question. Please see my responses below: (1) You are correct. We are not a blockchain solution, we are a hybrid between traditional payment rails and crypto currencies such as Bitcoin hence we are not dependent only on one rigid method. (2) Our last round of $1M+ seed round in June 2014 was capped at $10M and we have since accomplished a great deal of progress (obtained licensing, completed all apps, launched to 3 largest remittance countries,...) which justifies ...

Question 2

Hi Alan, thanks for the swift response. I'm looking at ZipZap's profile on Crunchbase and your seed round in 2014 also had investors like 500, Scott Banister, Brock Pierce and his Blockchain Capital? I don't see ZipZap on Blumberg's portfolio page though. Of your seed investor...

Accepted Answer

Hi Edwin, Blumberg Capital was our lead investors in our first round in 2011 and contributed to our last round in 2014 as well. I have not checked their web site but I assume if we are not listed, it is because they may have other new startups that they are showcasing who may need the exposure more than we do! This does not mean they don't support us, though. We have been very fortunate to have investments and support from many top- tier VC's and angels such 500 Startups, Alex Morcos, Ben Dav...

Question 3

Hi Alan, I was wondering if you had envisaged that bitcoin as currency is volatile. Since you will be routing people's money via SWIFT and bitcoin, don't you think of the adverse effect volatility could have on Zipzap in the event bitcoin nosedive as a result of market sentime...

Accepted Answer

Hi Babs; Great question. Neither ZipZap nor our customer has any currency risks with Bitcoins (or any other crypto currencies we use). Our exchange partners guarantee the rates for a certain amount of time which varies by partners and regions. We quote our customers based on these guaranteed rates and buy Bitcoins and send them to our exchange partners only if remittance is initiated within that window. Otherwise the transfer is voided and no Bitcoins are purchased. The scenario your describe...

Question 4

1) How do you plan to outcompete Abra, Venmo, Vodi, Zelle and Apple's forthcoming Venmo-clone? 2) Since it's been six years since your seed round, you are now (or will be) fighting network effects of the aforementioned and if you're not the lowest-cost remitter and/or with val...

Accepted Answer

J.W. In regards to your first question, I already responded to a generally similar question above titled "How are you positioning against the competition?" so I invite you to read that first. There is also a competition chart above under the heading of "The Solution: Combining SWIFT & Blockchain" which I hope addresses your question on key competitors. Of course, there are many others that are not listed there but none of them offer a hybrid Currency Router which is the core of our techno...

Question 5

Hello, I would like to know why you chose google ads as a marketing strategy. How do you plan to promote ZipZap at the moment of transfer? Will you have presence at banks, CVSs and similar places where people transfer money? Is there a viral aspect to your strategy? Is there a...

Accepted Answer

Alena; Google ads is just a visible part of our marketing strategy but definitely not the only part. Our core marketing strategy is an affiliate marketing through partnerships with retail agents and online partners who wish to offer their customers a better remittance experience and earn revenues at the same time. The biggest part of our marketing strategy, however, is a unique "refer a friend" program that provides both our customer and their referred friend one month of free, unlimited remi...

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