Shakepay Raises $35M to Help Canadians Buy, Sell and Earn Bitcoin

The funding will be used to scale the business and launch new products.

By Brandy Betz

Jan 20, 2022 at 11:00 a.m. UTC

Updated Jan 20, 2022 at 3:20 p.m. UTC

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Brandy Betz

Brandy covers crypto-related venture capital deals for CoinDesk.

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Shakepay, a company that allows Canadians to buy, sell and earn bitcoin, has announced a C$44 million (US$35 million) Series A investment led by QED investors, a U.S.-based venture capital firm. The funding will be used to expand the business and launch new products. The valuation of the funding round was not disclosed.

Shakepay is essentially a crypto-focused version of Block’s Cash App, allowing users to buy and sell bitcoin as well as send money to friends. In December, the company launched a beta version of its Shakepay Visa Prepaid Card to a group of 180,000 early-access customers. The card lets users earn cash-back rewards in bitcoin.
“We believe in the widespread adoption of bitcoin,” Shakepay CEO Jean Amiouny told CoinDesk in an interview. “The adoption of bitcoin as a monetary standard will be better for the citizens of Canada and for the future.”
Other participants in the round included Golden Ventures, Broadhaven, entrepreneurs Henri Machalani and Mike Murchison and several product leaders from e-commerce company Shopify.
As part of the capital raise, QED Investors partner Matt Burton will join Shakepay’s board of directors.
"Shakepay has been able to build a very passionate community and find product market fit on multiple product lines which is rare in today's competitive environment," said Burton in a press release.

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Brandy Betz

Brandy covers crypto-related venture capital deals for CoinDesk.

Follow @BrandyBetz on Twitter

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Brandy Betz

Brandy covers crypto-related venture capital deals for CoinDesk.

Follow @BrandyBetz on Twitter