Dhaka-Born Founder Raises Record $51M to Build Cross-Border Neobank for Emerging Markets
The Shariah-compliant digital bank is part of a growing wave of fintech startups building banking and payments services on top of blockchain rails.
Digital bank Fasset raised $51 million to expand its blockchain-powered banking platform, the latest sign that fintech firms are increasingly building financial services on blockchain rails instead of traditional payment networks.
The round marks the largest raise ever secured by a Dhaka-born founder in the global neobank and cross-border payments sector.
Behind it is Mohammad Raafi Hossain, who, after studying Environmental Economics and Sustainable Development at UC Berkeley and Harvard University, went on to work on economic development initiatives throughout the Middle East and North Africa, including advisory work for the former UAE Prime Minister's Office. Across both policy and private-sector environments, he repeatedly encountered the same structural issue: emerging markets were producing globally competitive talent, but the financial systems supporting them remained fragmented, expensive and poorly connected to the modern digital economy.
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For markets like Bangladesh, where global payment access has historically been fragmented and platforms like PayPal have never fully operated locally, infrastructure that lowers the cost and friction of receiving international payments could materially improve how freelancers, remote workers, and SMEs participate in the global economy.
The Los Angeles-headquartered company said Thursday that the Series B round included investors such as Japan's SBI Group, Investcorp, and the Turkish asset manager Arz Portföy. The firm did not disclose the valuation of the investment.
The startup operates a banking and payments platform spanning more than 50 corridors across Asia, Africa and the Middle East, using blockchain rails to move money across borders faster and at lower cost than traditional banking systems.
Fasset said it plans to use the funding to expand into new markets, develop lending and trade finance products for small businesses and grow what it calls "Own Network," its proprietary infrastructure for payments and custody.
The company is part of a broader wave of fintechs and neobanks rebuilding financial services on top of blockchain networks. For example, business banking startup Slash last month raised $100 million in an investment round, valuing the company at $1.4 billion. The firm has been developing blockchain-backed payment products to reduce settlement delays and foreign exchange costs for global businesses.
Blockchain-backed payments have become one of crypto's fastest-growing sectors, increasingly seen as an alternative for remittances, treasury management and international commerce. Supporters argue that blockchain-based payments can reduce reliance on correspondent banking networks, which often make cross-border transfers slow and expensive, particularly in emerging markets.
Fasset said its platform now processes more than $32 billion in annualised transaction volume across 125 countries and serves over 1,000 small and medium-sized businesses. The company recently partnered with USDT issuer Tether to launch what it described as a gold-backed neobanking card tied to tokenised assets.
"We are building Fasset for a world where money moves as easily across borders as information does," said Mohammad Raafi Hossain, CEO and co-founder of Fasset. "This funding round strengthens our ability to build regulated banking services and expand into new markets where our services are needed most."
