Stablecoin infrastructure firm Checker has raised a fresh round of capital with the big names in the crypto sector chipping in on the firm’s growth.
Media reports from Tuesday highlight that the company has managed to rope in $8 million in funding across pre-seed and seed rounds.
Galaxy Ventures, Al Mada Ventures and Framework Ventures were among the biggest investors in the latest funding round. The round also saw participation from a wide mix of backers across regions, including Bitso and Airtm in Latin America, DFS Lab in Africa, and Onigiri Capital, SNZ Capital, and Velocity Capital in Asia.
Alongside these institutional players, a number of well-known angel investors also took part, including Bam Azizi, CEO of Mesh; Shivani Siroya, co-founder of Tala; and Reid Cuming.
However, the firm did not share key details such as the structure of the funding round, the company’s valuation, or whether any of the investors were given board seats, advisory roles or observer rights as part of the deal.
The funding comes as stablecoins have gained immense traction in the market, with firms dealing with stablecoins gaining a larger user base. Stablecoin-related firms have also been acquired by major organisations; last year, Stripe paid $1.1 billion to purchase Bridge, while earlier this year, Mastercard agreed to pay up to $1.8 billion to acquire BVNK.
What is the funding for?
With the new funding, Checker plans to help financial institutions rely less on traditional correspondent banking networks, which are often slower, more expensive and dependent on multiple intermediaries for cross-border payments. The startup is also looking to introduce embedded borrowing and lending products by working with lending partners to provide settlement financing for customers.
According to Chong, Checker additionally plans to roll out AI-powered agents that can assist with onboarding, compliance reviews and treasury management tasks. The goal is to make operational processes easier and more efficient for institutional clients while reducing manual workload.
In terms of revenue, Checker makes money through software subscription services as well as fees tied to transaction volumes on its platform.
The company has expanded quickly since launch, growing from a team of four people to more than 15 employees in less than six months. Chong said Checker now expects to continue hiring, particularly across engineering, as demand from customers keeps rising.
Institutional capital reshapes crypto funding landscape
The funding environment for cryptocurrency in 2025 and 2026 is characterized by an obvious change towards greater institutional involvement, increased capital flows and heightened investor scrutiny.
Whereas in previous rounds there was more emphasis placed on speculative aspects and token launches, the investors are now giving preference to those projects that possess real business value, operational excellence and sustainability.
Various institutions like banks, financial technology firms and asset managers have started participating in the market, channeling investments into segments like digital assets infrastructure, stablecoins and institutional crypto products.
Thus, certain sectors in the market have witnessed an influx of capital that has never been seen before, especially those related to institutional finance.
At the same time, it became harder to obtain capital for start-ups. Venture capital financing is possible but investors are becoming increasingly selective about which projects to invest in.
Nowadays, companies need to prove not only that they are sustainable and comply with regulations, but also develop marketable products.
