Zabo co-founders Alex Treece and Christopher Brown will be presenting this week at Venture Summit West 2019, putting the spotlight on its banking product that allows you to get paid in Bitcoin by allocating your pay between cash and cryptocurrency.
Zabo plans to launch its fully digital bank—which will provide access to traditional checking, savings, lending, and cryptocurrency all in one—later this year.
Alex Treece [Photo: Michael Samples]
Dallas-Fort Worth-based Zabo was co-founded by the ‘three amigos’: Brown, CEO; Treece, president; and William Dias, CTO, who operates out of Toronto. In addition to Zabo, the trio runs Modular Banking, a provider of digital asset services to the banking sector.
“We are hoping to connect directly with venture capital firms as we look ahead to additional rounds of funding in the future,” Treece told Dallas Innovates. “We are also wanting to generate awareness about our product, what is unique about it, and where we fit into the broader ecosystem.”
Zabo got $1.15M in seed funding last year
About a year ago, Zabo announced it had raised a $1.15 million seed investment from New York-based Blockchange Ventures. The funding went toward creating the app, supporting Bitcoin and Ether, and allowing users to have crypto combined with their bank accounts.
Christopher Brown [Photo: Skyler Fike]
“To date, we’ve spent a lot of time and effort around building our core technology,” Treece says. “There is a lot that goes into any financial product, and especially one involving cryptocurrency/blockchain technology.”
Right now, Treece says the startup is primarily focused on four main components:
- Finalizing a partnership with a licensed banking partner, which is predicted to be announced in the next few months;
- Planning for the next round of funding;
- Finalizing product design and development in anticipation for this year’s Q3 launch; and
- Marketing and generating early access wait list signups for the product.
Zabo’s licensed banking partner will provide FDIC-insured U.S. dollar bank accounts and be governed and compliant with applicable federal and state money transmission laws and regulations.
Meeting VC teams, other startups face-to-face
Venture Summit West, hosted by Blockchain Exchange Guide in San Francisco, is one of the top Bitcoin events of the year. As a gathering place for VCs, startups, and tech professionals, the summit will feature discussions on the newest technologies and the latest trends shaping the future. Attendees include over 100 venture capitalists with more than $60 billion in management.
Treece says that among the important things he and Brown hope to achieve, getting face-to-face time with venture capital teams and other startups is crucial. “Some we’ve communicated [with] electronically, but it’s super helpful to connect in person and establish those bonds,” he says.
Brown and Treece will be presenting Wednesday and Thursday.
READ NEXT
Meet the Innovators: Christopher Brown, Modular and Zabo
Get on the list.
Dallas Innovates, every day.
Sign up to keep your eye on what’s new and next in Dallas-Fort Worth, every day.
R E A D N E X T
-
Five local winners received up to $200,000 in funding to activate their solutions throughout North Texas.
-
The free, half-day event focuses on the power of positive change and navigating these uncharted times. Capital One's Reimagine Communities Summit features a keynote from Valerie Jarrett, former senior advisor to President Obama, along with insights from a diverse cross-section of innovators, industry disruptors, and content experts.
-
The summit is an innovation multiplier for capital, collaboration, and commercialization. Plus, you can meet 2021 NTX Rising Stars—and the new companies moving to BioLabs at Pegasus Park. Here's an updated agenda for the annual iC3 Life Science Summit on September 30 and October 1.
-
Two nonprofits will each receive $250,000 in grant funding. The Capital One grants are part of a $3.5 million commitment to 12 nonprofit organizations.
-
Zabo’s technology connects cryptocurrency accounts making it easy for users to unify their crypto holdings. The core tech is a good fit with Coinbase which has worked to bring cryptocurrency mainstream, particularly with its IPO in April 2021. Zabo offers integrations with most top exchanges and wallets. The company, founded in 2018, is a good fit with Coinbase, which has worked to bring cryptocurrency mainstream, particularly with its IPO in April 2021.
