Founder Story: Mika Reyes from Parallax

Circle Ventures portfolio company Parallax develops financial infrastructure that helps support the digital economy in developing countries.

Parallax is a Circle Ventures portfolio company.

What inspired you to start Parallax?

The reason I got into crypto and web3 in the first place is rooted in my upbringing in the Philippines. My goal is to make an impact in emerging markets like my home country. In these markets, crypto adoption is much higher and more impactful (perhaps correlated), leapfrogging existing infrastructure to create more financial access. 

Parallax is built on this premise. We noticed people from developing markets preferred to get paid in crypto – faster, cheaper, more transparent – but not all employers could do so. We help bridge this gap through leveraging the blockchain for faster and cheaper cross-border payments and enable better global financial access starting with key markets and beyond!

How does Parallax differ from other companies in the stablecoin and payments space?

We're different from crypto companies in that our end goal is to abstract the prominence of “crypto”  and mostly use it  as a vehicle to unlock faster and cheaper global money movement. We're different from other payments companies, because we leverage the budding world of stablecoins and crypto to facilitate money movement. 

The statistics regarding female founders securing venture funding are concerning... What is one important piece of advice you would give to other women who are attempting to raise capital in this area?

I'd like to give (perhaps spicy!) advice that applies to both the women founders and everyone else: 

The disappointing VC funding percentage given to women is not the fault of or should be on the onus of founders who happen to be women. It's a systemic issue in society that should be on the shoulders of everyone to acknowledge and change. 

What does that mean for you, a founder who happens to be a woman, reading this? Just go for it! It's easy to take every rejection personally, but sometimes it's good to reframe that there are many other factors that come into play. Acknowledge that you've overcome so much more than your peers to get to where you are and your momentum will help you overcome even more. You owe it to yourself to try and to the hundreds of other women who find hope in your eventual triumph.

What is the biggest challenge Parallax has faced in developing its platform and how have you addressed it?

Like many other fintechs, in order to go to market and prove our hypotheses faster, we rely on key partners  to build our initial infrastructure. The tradeoff is less control. 

Eventually, once we prove out key hypotheses and can justify significant investments in our infrastructure, we may see ourselves owning certain pieces of the stack not unlike other fintech companies. 

What unique opportunities do you see for Parallax in the growing world of DeFi and blockchain-based payments?

We find ourselves at the unique intersection of DeFi and TradFi, so I'm most excited about bridging the two worlds. In particular, about leveraging the DeFi world and technology to unlock TradFi use cases in cross-border payments.   

Looking ahead, what new products does Parallax plan to launch in the next year to continue to meet customer needs?

Oh, so many products and features in store! The hard part is prioritizing which ones. A couple of exciting, immediate ones: 

• Automatically converting and making transfers 
• FX and payouts in local payment methods in various countries 
• Payment requests to send to payees
• Easily sending money with payment links

We're only getting started!