Takadao Raises US$3.1 Million in Total Funding and Launches The Community-Owned Prepaid Crypto VISA Card – LifeCard

Takadao, the web3 platform for bankless financial alternatives based in Riyadh and Singapore, has announced the close of its seed round of US$1.5 million with participation by global investors including Hasan VC (Malaysia), Syla Invest (France), Wahed Ventures (UK), Ice Blue Fund (Japan), Istari Ventures (US), Adverse (Saudi Arabia) and with follow-on funding from Draper Associates of Silicon Valley. This takes the total funding raised by Takadao to US$3.1 million.

Alongside this investment, Takadao announced the launch of The LifeCard, a prepaid VISA card that allows users to spend stablecoins like cash anywhere VISA is accepted. The LifeCard is under the umbrella of The LifeDAO: Community-Owned Nobank powered by the Takadao protocol.

For this round, the startup specifically targeted investors that align with its community-focused mission, who backed companies in the shariah-compliant space, and who are geographically diverse.

“Hasan VC is led by Umar Munshi, a pioneer in the Islamic fintech space who has strong ties in Malaysia and Southeast Asia. Syla Invest, led by Suat Gurcu, is an up and coming investment club in France that has been making waves among the Francophone Muslim community and has invested in over 10+ startups. Wahed Ventures is an established name among Muslim investors in the UK and US. We wanted to raise from them in order to tap into these markets where we already have significant traction,” said Morrad Irsane, CEO of Takadao.

Takadao’s protocol powers The LifeDAO, Community-Owned Nobank that empowers members to be their own bank. Members have access to a DeFi (decentralized finance) wallet, life protection fund, non-custodial investment pools, and a members’ hub for networking and financial education focused on web3 and financial literacy. Funds deposited into these protocols are owned and controlled by the user and not in the custody of The LifeDAO nor Takadao. Surplus from operations are redistributed to members. The LifeDAO currently has $1mil in total value locked across affiliated funds.

The LifeCard is the latest product in The LifeDAO ecosystem powered by the Takadao protocol. It is the cornerstone of the ecosystem and allows members to spend their crypto, including what is generated from participation in The LifeDAO, in everyday life.

Sharene Lee, co-founder and COO, said, “Members receive life protection payouts, pooled investment returns, referral earnings and revenue share in stablecoins that they can now spend like cash with The LifeCard. It’s a tangible link between the Web3 world and the real world and is really important in rounding out the ecosystem.”

The LifeCard boasts some exciting features that are unique in the market: profits generated from card fees are redistributed among The LifeDAO members, round-ups enable members to save and invest automatically with every transaction, a 0% interest microloan is available to members based on their historical card top-ups.

“While designing the product, we wanted to maximize the utility to The LifeDAO Nobank ecosystem which also means maximizing the utility for individual members. Profit sharing is an inherent part of The LifeDAO, so that was a natural extension. And there is a strong push from within the community to find halal ways to grow their wealth, so roundups and auto-save features make total sense. And finally, The LifeDAO is a community that helps and protects, hence the 0% interest microloan is there for people when they need it most,” declares Morrad Irsane, co-founder and CEO, Takadao.