Introduction
Singapore-based crypto hardware wallet company Ryder has successfully closed a $3.2 million seed funding round led by legendary investor Tim Draper of Draper Associates. The investment, which includes participation from prominent venture capital firms and angel investors like Solana co-founder Anatoly Yakovenko, will accelerate production of Ryder One – a hardware wallet that enables secure crypto setup in under 60 seconds. This funding signals strong market confidence in Ryder’s mission to make self-custody accessible to mainstream users while eliminating the security vulnerabilities of traditional seed phrases.
Key Points
- Ryder One hardware wallet enables secure setup and backup in 60 seconds or less, targeting mainstream adoption
- Introduces TapSafe recovery system using NFC tags and mobile backups instead of traditional seed phrases
- Funding will accelerate production, expand engineering/marketing teams, and enable real-world payment integration
A Landmark Investment for Crypto Security
The $3.2 million seed round represents a significant vote of confidence in Ryder’s approach to cryptocurrency security. Led by Tim Draper, founder of Draper Associates and known as a ‘Satoshi Trillionaire’ for his early Bitcoin investments, the funding round also attracted participation from venture capital firms Borderless, Semantic, Smape, and VeryEarly. The investor roster includes high-profile angel investors Anatoly Yakovenko, co-founder of Solana, and Joe McCann, CEO of Asymmetric, creating a powerful coalition of crypto industry veterans backing Ryder’s vision.
Tim Draper emphasized the strategic importance of Ryder’s solution, stating, ‘What the crypto industry needs more than anything right now are solutions that don’t require in-depth technical knowledge while maintaining high security standards. This is exactly what I saw in Ryder’s hardware wallet with its minute-or-under set-up and offline design that keeps users’ holdings safe.’ This endorsement from one of crypto’s most successful investors validates Ryder’s approach to bridging the gap between enterprise-grade security and consumer-friendly usability.
Revolutionizing Self-Custody with Ryder One
Ryder One addresses what co-founder and CEO Louise Ivan Payawal describes as the fundamental fragility of current self-custody solutions. ‘For too long, crypto has relied on seed phrases – a single piece of paper that could decide the fate of your entire wallet,’ Payawal explained. The hardware wallet enables users to safely create and back up their wallet within 60 seconds, dramatically reducing the technical barrier that has prevented mainstream adoption of self-custody solutions.
The core innovation lies in Ryder’s TapSafe recovery system, which replaces traditional seed phrases with a distributed backup approach. TapSafe backups are spread across mobile phones and coin-sized NFC Recovery Tags, requiring physical proximity of these components to restore wallet access in case of loss. This system is redundant, self-custodial, and eliminates the single point of failure that has plagued cryptocurrency storage since its inception. Marvin Janssen, co-founder and CTO of Ryder, emphasized that ‘with Ryder One, we set out to make crypto feel natural and human – as easy as tapping your phone.’
Julien Neree, CPO of Ryder, highlighted the company’s relentless focus on user experience, noting ‘three years, countless iterations, one mission: to make self-custody effortless for everyone.’ This commitment to simplicity without compromising security positions Ryder to capture the growing market of crypto users seeking alternatives to exchange-based storage and complex hardware wallet setups.
Strategic Growth and Future Vision
The $3.2 million infusion will fuel multiple strategic initiatives for Ryder. Primary allocation includes ramping up production capacity to meet anticipated demand, scaling both marketing and engineering teams, and further developing the Ryder One platform. The funding will also enable what the company describes as ‘the next big marketing push’ to raise brand awareness in the competitive crypto security landscape.
Looking beyond immediate product development, Ryder is expanding its vision to encompass everyday cryptocurrency use cases. The company plans to enable people to use cryptocurrency directly from their hardware wallet through Ryder’s companion app, featuring tap-to-pay functionality and other seamless, real-world transaction capabilities. This evolution from pure storage solution to integrated payment platform represents Ryder’s ambition to guide how billions of people will use and integrate digital assets in their daily lives.
Founded by crypto veterans Louise Ivan Payawal and Marvin Janssen, and strengthened by Julien Nerée’s decade of consumer electronics experience, Ryder combines deep blockchain expertise with proven product development capabilities. The company’s Singapore base positions it at the heart of Asia’s rapidly growing crypto ecosystem, while its international investor base and global vision suggest ambitions far beyond regional markets. As self-custody becomes increasingly crucial in the evolving regulatory landscape, Ryder’s timing and technology appear perfectly positioned to capture a significant share of the emerging mainstream crypto security market.
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