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Sorted Wallet secures $4.4M seed round for emerging markets
The newly acquired capital will be used to deepen Sorted Wallet’s presence in its existing markets and drive expansion into new territories across Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia.
Sorted Wallet, a non-custodial digital wallet built specifically for feature phones and low-end smartphones, has secured a $4.4 million seed funding round.
The raise includes $3.4 million in equity funding led by industry giants Tether and Gnosis. The round also saw participation from Movement, Angel Invest, and prominent angel investors, including the founders of RWA.io.
Historically, cryptocurrency wallet developers focused on users in regions with high-speed internet, high-end smartphones, and stable fiat currencies.
Sorted Wallet founders took a different approach after discovering in 2022 that hundreds of millions of people across Africa and South Asia rely on feature phones as their sole connection to the digital world.
In response, the team built a lightweight, non-custodial wallet that fits in under 10MB and that runs smoothly on both feature phones and basic smartphones.
Operating under a strict self-custodial model—where users maintain total control of their funds — the app has achieved over 500,000 downloads across 160 countries, including Kenya, Nigeria, Tanzania, Bangladesh, and Madagascar, since it was launched.
“Over the years, digital asset use cases have evolved from trading tools to real-life applications, promoting financial freedom and inclusion,” said Paolo Ardoino, CEO of Tether. “However, to achieve true inclusion, we must reach hundreds of millions of people who cannot afford smartphones or data plans.”
Tether’s decision to reinvest in Sorted Wallet underscores a shared vision of global financial democracy, ensuring that economic status or hardware limitations do not lock individuals out of the global economy.
Looking ahead, Sorted Wallet plans to leverage this funding to scale its infrastructure by building deeper integrations with regional telecommunications companies and mobile operators.
“Three years ago we built a wallet for a $20 phone. Nobody else thought it was worth building for. 500,000 downloads later, they know better,” said Stephen Browne, CEO of Sorted. “This round is how we will find the next 100 million.”