Panama-based Efy Finance, a cross-border payments company serving Latin America, has raised $5 million in a seed round led by Tether, with participation from Astor Management AG, and angel investors.

In a statement on Thursday, Efy Finance said the money will fund the expansion of its banking infrastructure, payment corridors, and stablecoin-enabled settlement services in the region.

Efy was founded in 2019 in Barranquilla, Colombia, and initially offered receivables financing to mid-market importers and exporters. In 2024, it shifted its focus to cross-border payments and settlement, which can reflect demand for faster and cheaper international payments.

Efy says it has processed more than $2.5 billion in cumulative transaction volume and serves more than 25,000 active individual and business accounts. Efy says its services include multi-currency accounts, Visa cards, over-the-counter services, and USDT on- and off-ramps, along with cross-border payment and settlement.

Its five core markets are Colombia, Mexico, Bolivia, El Salvador and Panama. Its reach extends further through its own entities, regulated partners and regional payment networks, while its settlement network covers17 countries.

Andrés Tobón, co-founder and CEO of Efy, said most companies describe the stablecoin opportunity in Latin America as a remittance market. Beyond that, Efy can handle treasury money moving by finance teams of companies operating across borders. He said a payment that takes three days and passes through four intermediaries needs a different settlement rail, not another app.

Efy plans to use the new capital to expand its banking links, build payment and foreign-exchange corridors in Colombia, Mexico, Bolivia, and Central America, and strengthen its compliance, treasur,y and liquidity operations. Its roadmap includes a unified application programming interface for fintechs, USD accounts and Visa cards, and stronger custody and transaction monitoring.

Paolo Ardoino, CEO of Tether, said Latin America is one of the world’s leading markets for blockchain innovation and that Tether is backing the infrastructure linking stablecoins with institutions there.

Oscar Ramos Moreno, managing general partner at Orbit Ventures, which invested at the pre-seed stage, said the founders had built the compliance and operational foundations needed for stablecoin-based services. This article is not investment advice.

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