TORONTO–(BUSINESS WIRE†mash potato, the payment platform that allows builders, makers and developers to monetize their experiences by leveraging Bitcoin and the Lightning Network, today announced it has raised $6 million in seed funding. The investment was co-led by Castle Island Ventures and Whitecap Venture Partnerswith the participation of Maple VC† Strategic Cyber Enterprises† Aquanow† Space Cadet Venturesand several angel investors, including: Amjad Masad† Balaji Srinivasan† Austin Hill† John Pfefferand Dean Skurka†
Mash aims to make the web more profitable by enabling builders, makers and developers to implement net new business models to monetize the experiences they deliver; and by providing consumers with a digital wallet that they can use anywhere. The Mash technology is built on a foundation of Bitcoin and Lightning, which together bring the power of open, digital proprietary money to global markets, enabling interoperable payments to anyone, anywhere in the world at an intangible cost, programmatically and for any amount – even a fraction of a cent.
Solving the huge problem of monetization over the internet
Mash tackles the monetization problem experienced by builders of apps, games, widgets and tools with no code; application and platform developers; and community and content creators. The people behind these digital experiences are unable to implement pricing models that allow them to generate revenues that match the true value and quality of what they deliver. Instead, they rely on i) advertisements that require millions of users and result in revenue based on consumers buying something else; ii) subscriptions and up-front purchases that have a significant commitment barrier and do not convert and result in churn; or, iii) aggregate sites that restrict, censor, and monitor them.
“Monetization of online content today is deeply broken. As a scalable, data-efficient and highly granular system, Bitcoin’s Lightning Network is ideally suited to solve this problem, and Mash is a great fit for it,” said Nic Carter, General Partner at Castle Island Ventures, which also led a pre-seed investment in Mash. “We have doubled our commitment to Mash and look forward to continuing the journey with the team.” Coinciding with the funding round, Carter will join Mash’s board of directors.
A new approach to monetization
By enabling builders, developers and creators to offer flexible, pay-as-you-go pricing options, Mash eliminates all barriers to pre-purchase. Mash allows for pricing based on usage, access, and time – content read, messages sent, votes cast, crowd unlocks, tips, games played, time spent watching/listening, boosts, downloads, and more. This approach gives consumers clear control over their spending and allows them to consume, engage and interact while “streaming money”. Mash also allows consumers to try it before they buy, and pay automatically without interruption or overspending — without having to lock up their money for a single experience they may never use again. Payment is facilitated using a native digital wallet that does not require any download, is interoperable over the internet and can be loaded directly with a credit card or Bitcoin.
“There is an explosion in the number of people who want to be full-time creators and builders. But to get started full-time, they need an easy way to actually monetize the value they deliver,” said Jared Nusinoff, founder and CEO of Mash. “Bitcoin and Lightning are transformative, redefining money on a global scale and creating the perfect opportunity for us to change the fabric of all online experiences and unlock fundamentally new business models that reward and encourage the spread of high-quality, trusted and high-value experiences. †
Significant progress in the first year
Since the company’s founding in March 2021, Mash has built a world-class engineering and design team with a top-notch startup and deep engineering experience at companies such as Google, Amazon, Typeform, Fitbit, Lazer, and others. The company recently launched a beta of its first product that will allow web apps and makers to charge based on access/use and add a consumer digital wallet with just a snippet of code. Mash is also onboarding several partners.
Mash will use the money to build out and commercialize its Bitcoin and Lightning Network payment platform; grow its team in engineering, marketing, sales and business development; and execute its go-to-market strategy.
“With the maturation of Bitcoin and the Lightning Network, the timing has never been better to commercialize the concept of dynamic digital payments,” said Russell Samuels, Partner at Whitecap Venture Partners. “With tens of millions of developers worldwide and hundreds of thousands of new apps launched every year, the potential for Mash is significant. We are proud to work with the Mash team.” Samuels will join Mash’s board of directors as a board observer.
About Mash
Mash is the transformative Bitcoin Lightning Network payment platform that enables usage-based monetization for builders, developers and creators. The company is on a mission to solve the fundamental flaw with the internet that prevents monetization of content, tools, no-code products, applications, platforms and other online experiences based on value and quality. Founded in 2021, the remote-first company is led by a team of builders with experience at leading start-ups, scale-ups and major tech companies. For more information, visit getmash.com†