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Corporate card and expense software backed by self-custodied stablecoin collateral

Funding

$54.58M

2023

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Details
Headquarters
Los Angeles, CA
CEO
Farooq Malik
Website
Milestones
FOUNDING YEAR
2021
IPO
January 2025
IPO
January 2025
DELISTED
June 2025
DELISTED
June 2025

Valuation

Rain raised $24.5 million in March 2025 led by Norwest Venture Partners, bringing total funding to $30.5 million. The company previously raised a $6 million seed round in April 2022 led by Lightspeed Venture Partners.

Key investors include Galaxy Ventures, Goldcrest, Thayer, Hard Yaka, Coinbase Ventures, Vinyl Capital, Canonical Crypto, and Latitude Capital. The funding supports Rain's expansion into new geographic markets and development of additional payment infrastructure for digital assets.

Product

Rain is a corporate card and expense management platform that allows businesses to spend their self-custodied stablecoins directly through traditional payment networks without converting to fiat currency first. Companies deposit USDC or other supported stablecoins into smart contracts they control, and Rain issues them physical and virtual Visa cards that work at any merchant accepting Visa payments.

The core workflow starts with treasury setup where customers connect self-custody wallets and deposit stablecoins as collateral. Rain generates a smart contract for each customer that the customer owns and controls, meaning they can withdraw funds at any time. When employees use Rain cards for purchases, Rain fronts the fiat payment to merchants while simultaneously settling the transaction using the customer's stablecoin collateral.

Rain supports multiple stablecoins including USDC, USDT, DAI, and PYUSD across various blockchain networks like Ethereum, Polygon, Base, Solana, and Stellar. The platform includes expense management features like receipt attachment, general ledger code mapping, and integrations with accounting software like QuickBooks and Xero. Customers can also handle payroll, reimbursements, and international payments through the same platform, creating a comprehensive financial operating system for crypto-native businesses.

Business Model

Rain operates as a vertically integrated payment processor and card issuer, functioning as a Visa Principal Member to provide direct access to payment networks. The company generates revenue through interchange fees on card transactions and subscription fees for its expense management software, similar to competitors like Brex and Ramp.

The key differentiator is Rain's asset-backed credit model using self-custodied stablecoin collateral. Rather than requiring traditional bank deposits, customers lock stablecoins in smart contracts they control, and Rain extends credit lines backed by this collateral. This approach eliminates the need for traditional banking relationships while maintaining compliance with financial regulations.

Rain's B2B go-to-market strategy targets crypto-native enterprises that generate substantial on-chain revenue but struggle with traditional banking access. The company built its infrastructure from scratch to reduce dependencies on third-party banking partners, requiring significant upfront investment but creating a more robust and defensible platform. The self-custody model appeals to customers who want to maintain control over their digital assets while gaining access to traditional payment rails.

The business benefits from network effects as Rain adds support for additional blockchain networks, increasing switching costs for customers and partners. Rain also pursues a partner-led distribution strategy, allowing other fintech companies to white-label its stablecoin payment infrastructure while Rain captures backend processing revenue.

Competition

Traditional corporate card platforms

Brex and Ramp dominate the corporate card and expense management market by targeting CFO functions with comprehensive financial software suites. Brex raised a $235 million credit line in early 2025 to expand globally, focusing on interchange revenue and foreign exchange fees while offering software at low subscription prices. Ramp emphasizes cost control and free corporate cards, building strong relationships with finance leaders through community-driven go-to-market strategies.

Both companies support multi-currency wallets and are positioned to add stablecoin settlement capabilities as regulations clarify. Their established customer bases, extensive feature sets, and strong banking relationships create significant competitive pressure on Rain's ability to expand beyond crypto-native customers into mainstream corporate markets.

Payment network integration

Visa and Mastercard are directly integrating stablecoin settlement into their networks, potentially commoditizing Rain's core value proposition. Visa's USDC settlement pilot enables 24/7 settlement on Solana and Ethereum, while Mastercard's Multi-Token Network supports multiple stablecoins with same-day settlement for large merchants.

These initiatives, combined with Stripe's Bridge acquisition providing white-label stablecoin issuing capabilities, allow traditional payment processors to offer similar functionality without specialized crypto infrastructure. As card networks internalize on-chain settlement, Rain's technical moat around stablecoin-to-fiat conversion may erode.

Crypto-native competitors

Emerging competitors like Starlight focus on Solana-based SMB cards, while other crypto-native payment companies target specific blockchain ecosystems or use cases. These specialized players often have deeper integration with particular blockchain networks and may offer more competitive pricing for customers operating primarily within single ecosystems.

Traditional crypto exchanges and custodians also represent competitive threats as they expand into corporate payment services, leveraging existing customer relationships and regulatory licenses to offer integrated treasury and spending solutions.

TAM Expansion

New products

Rain is expanding beyond corporate cards into comprehensive financial infrastructure for digital assets. The company's Visa Principal Member status and multi-chain settlement capabilities position it to offer tokenized receivable financing, where card receivables become on-chain collateral for DeFi lending markets.

Rain is also developing developer-first issuing APIs that allow any fintech to embed stablecoin spending capabilities, similar to Stripe Issuing for traditional payments. This infrastructure-as-a-service model could significantly expand Rain's addressable market beyond direct corporate customers to include neobanks, payroll platforms, and Web3 applications.

Customer base expansion

While Rain initially served crypto-native companies like exchanges and DAOs, the platform is expanding to mainstream fintechs and enterprises adopting stablecoins for treasury efficiency. Corporate treasuries are increasingly adding stablecoins for working capital management, creating demand for Rain's self-custody payment solutions.

Rain's infrastructure also appeals to globally distributed companies that need efficient international payments without traditional banking intermediaries. The platform's ability to handle payroll, vendor payments, and expense management in a single system creates opportunities to serve remote-first companies across various industries.

Geographic expansion

Rain operates in over 100 countries and is using its Series A funding to expand compliance capabilities in high-growth regions like Latin America and the Middle East, where dollar-denominated stablecoin adoption is accelerating. The company's multi-chain support allows it to tap into regional blockchain ecosystems popular in Asia-Pacific markets.

Rain's partnership-focused distribution strategy enables rapid geographic expansion through local fintech partners who can provide market-specific compliance and customer acquisition while Rain handles the underlying payment infrastructure. This approach allows Rain to scale internationally without establishing direct operations in each market.

Risks

Regulatory uncertainty: Rain's business model depends on favorable treatment of stablecoin-backed credit products and self-custody arrangements. Changes in financial regulations could require significant operational modifications or limit Rain's ability to serve certain customer segments, particularly as regulators develop more specific frameworks for digital asset payment services.

Banking partner concentration: Despite building infrastructure to reduce dependencies, Rain still requires traditional banking relationships for fiat settlement and regulatory compliance. Loss of key banking partners or changes in their risk appetite for crypto-adjacent businesses could disrupt Rain's operations, similar to challenges faced during the 2023 banking crisis that affected many crypto companies.

Network commoditization: As major payment networks like Visa and Mastercard integrate native stablecoin settlement, Rain's core technical differentiator may become a standard feature offered by traditional processors. This commoditization could compress margins and force Rain to compete primarily on software features rather than unique payment capabilities.

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