Fundraising Fox
Payward
Cheyenne, US · 7 known investors
Find your way into Payward
2,848 people in our graph share verified history with the Payward team — schools, employers, funds. One of them is your warm intro.
Alex Cheeunlockedknows Arjun Sethi · together at Termina (overlapped)
knows the team · via Termina
knows the team · via Foundation
×3knows the team · via Kraken
×6knows the team · via Carta
Payward is the parent company behind Kraken and a portfolio of financial products covering trading, custody, payments, lending, onchain finance, and benchmarks. It builds interoperable infrastructure connecting crypto, tokenized assets, and traditional markets for global operation across multiple jurisdictions.
Founders & leadership
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Jesse PowellFounderJesse Powell is Director at Payward, the parent company of Kraken and a portfolio of financial products spanning trading, custody, payments, lending, and onchain finance. He has background and expertise in virtual currencies, online payments, fraud prevention, e-commerce, and Bitcoin.
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Stephanie LemmermanExecutive
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Arjun SethiChief Executive OfficerArjun Sethi has built and scaled multiple companies including Lolapps, MessageMe, and roles at Yahoo!, and currently serves as Co-CEO of Payward/Kraken while co-founding and managing Tribe Capital and Tribe Capital India.
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Nicholas PercocoExecutive
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Mayur GuptaChief Growth & Marketing OfficerMayur Gupta leads Growth at Kraken, the parent company Payward's flagship crypto exchange. Previously, he held growth and marketing roles at Spotify, Gannett/USA Today Network, and Freshly, and serves as a board director at Adtalem and D'Addario.
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Robert MooreNamed on SEC filing
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Benjamin GrayNamed on SEC filing
Board
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Daniel CiporinBoard director
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Alison DavisBoard director
Investors · 7
DRW Venture CapitalreportedChicago · $1M – $5M
How we know: offering press articles · press coverage · Not right? Tell us
Nasdaq VenturesreportedRichmond · $2M – $5M
How we know: funding news · press coverage · Not right? Tell us
Trammell Venture PartnersinferredAustin
How we know: board seat on SEC Form D · Not right? Tell us
Trammell Venture Partners (TVP)inferredAustinvia Christopher Calicott · board
How we know: board seat on SEC Form D · Not right? Tell us
Tribe CapitalreportedSan Francisco · $25K – $75M
How we know: offering press articles · press coverage · Not right? Tell us
TVP Bitcoin VentureinferredAustin
How we know: board seat on SEC Form D · Not right? Tell us
Reported raises · per SEC filings
Form D private placements$822.7M disclosed across 6 of 7 rounds · 2019–2026
▶$10.8KraisedAug 2026 · 12 investors · Other TechnologyRule 506(c)
▶$10.8KraisedAug 2026 · 12 investors · Other Technology
Rule 506(c)Officers, directors & promoters on the filing
- Jesse PowellDirector
- Thanh LuuDirector
- Arjun SethiExecutive Officer, Director
- Daniel CiporinDirector
- Alison DavisDirector
- David RipleyExecutive Officer
- Robert MooreExecutive Officer
- Christopher CalicottDirector
- Nicholas PercocoExecutive Officer
- Benjamin GrayExecutive Officer
- Mayur GuptaExecutive Officer
- Pranesh AnthapurExecutive Officer
- Curtis TingExecutive Officer
- Sivan WhiteleyDirector
- Mark GreenbergExecutive Officer
- Amount sold
- $10.8K
- First sale
- Jul 2026
- Incorporated
- Corporation, Delaware
- Federal exemptions
- 06c
▶$25.2MraisedAug 2026 · 32 investors · Other TechnologyRule 506(b)
▶$25.2MraisedAug 2026 · 32 investors · Other Technology
Rule 506(b)Officers, directors & promoters on the filing
- Jesse PowellDirector
- Thanh LuuDirector
- Arjun SethiExecutive Officer, Director
- Daniel CiporinDirector
- Alison DavisDirector
- David RipleyExecutive Officer
- Robert MooreExecutive Officer
- Christopher CalicottDirector
- Nicholas PercocoExecutive Officer
- Benjamin GrayExecutive Officer
- Mayur GuptaExecutive Officer
- Pranesh AnthapurExecutive Officer
- Curtis TingExecutive Officer
- Sivan WhiteleyDirector
- Mark GreenbergExecutive Officer
- Offering amount
- $25.3M
- Amount sold
- $25.2M
- First sale
- Jan 2026
- Incorporated
- Corporation, Delaware
- Federal exemptions
- 06b
▶$354.2MraisedJun 2026 · 36 investors · Other TechnologyRule 506(b)
▶$354.2MraisedJun 2026 · 36 investors · Other Technology
Rule 506(b)
Officers, directors & promoters on the filing
- Pranesh AnthapurExecutive Officer
- Nicholas PercocoExecutive Officer
- Thanh LuuDirector
- David RipleyExecutive Officer
- Benjamin GrayExecutive Officer
- Alison DavisDirector
- Mayur GuptaExecutive Officer
- Jesse PowellDirector
- Christopher CalicottDirector
- Curtis TingExecutive Officer
- Arjun SethiExecutive Officer, Director
- Daniel CiporinDirector
- Sivan WhiteleyDirector
- Robert MooreExecutive Officer
- Offering amount
- $400.6M
- Amount sold
- $354.2M
- First sale
- May 2026
- Incorporated
- Corporation, Delaware
- Federal exemptions
- 06b
▶$260MofferedDec 2025 · 11 investors · Other TechnologyRule 506(c)
▶$260MofferedDec 2025 · 11 investors · Other Technology
Rule 506(c)Officers, directors & promoters on the filing
- Benjamin GrayExecutive Officer
- David RipleyExecutive Officer
- Jesse PowellDirector
- Stephanie LemmermanExecutive Officer
- Thanh LuuDirector
- Arjun SethiExecutive Officer, Director
- Mayur GuptaExecutive Officer
- Christopher CalicottDirector
- Alison DavisDirector
- Dan CiporinDirector
- Pranesh AnthapurExecutive Officer
- Curtis TingExecutive Officer
- Nicholas PercocoExecutive Officer
- Offering amount
- $260M
- First sale
- Dec 2025
- Incorporated
- Corporation, Delaware
- Federal exemptions
- 06c
▶$29.3MraisedSep 2025 · 17 investors · Other TechnologyRule 506(b)
▶$29.3MraisedSep 2025 · 17 investors · Other Technology
Rule 506(b)Officers, directors & promoters on the filing
- Daniel CiporinDirector
- David RipleyExecutive Officer
- Arjun SethiExecutive Officer, Director
- Alison DavisDirector
- Stephanie LemmermanExecutive Officer
- Jesse PowellDirector
- Christopher CalicottDirector
- Thanh LuuDirector
- Offering amount
- $29.3M
- Amount sold
- $29.3M
- First sale
- Sep 2025
- Incorporated
- Corporation, Delaware
- Federal exemptions
- 06b
▶$400MraisedMay 2025 · 65 investors · Other TechnologyRule 506(b)
▶$400MraisedMay 2025 · 65 investors · Other Technology
Rule 506(b)Officers, directors & promoters on the filing
- Stephanie LemmermanExecutive Officer
- Daniel CiporinDirector
- Jesse PowellDirector
- Alison DavisDirector
- David RipleyExecutive Officer
- Thanh LuuDirector
- Arjun SethiExecutive Officer, Director
- Offering amount
- $400M
- Amount sold
- $400M
- First sale
- May 2025
- Incorporated
- Corporation, Delaware
- Federal exemptions
- 06b
▶$14MraisedMay 2020 · 20 investors · Other TechnologyRule 506(c)
▶$14MraisedMay 2020 · 20 investors · Other Technology
Rule 506(c)Officers, directors & promoters on the filing
- Pamir GelenbeDirector
- Kaiser NgExecutive Officer
- Jesse PowellExecutive Officer, Director
- Thanh LuuDirector
- Offering amount
- $52.5M
- Amount sold
- $14M
- Sales commissions
- $152.1K
- Placement agents
- Forge Investments LLC, Bnk To The Future Kraken US SP, a Segregated Portfolio of Bnk To The Future Capital SPC
- First sale
- Jul 2019
- Incorporated
- Corporation, Delaware
- Federal exemptions
- 06c
Source: SEC EDGAR Form D. Amounts as filed; amended filings shown once at their latest values.
Founder mafia
3 people who came through Payward went on to found or lead other companies.
In the news
You can now hold your stocks in an offline device, thanks to a tie-up between Ledger and Payward | Fortunefortune.com · Sep 2026
Crypto Update: Nasdaq Puts $100 Million Into Kraken Parent Payward as Remittix Builds Its Payment Networkopenpr.com · Sep 2026
Kraken parent buys wallet business powering 60 million userscrypto.news · Jul 2026
GTN and Payward partner to expand global capital market access through xStocks - AOLaol.com · Jul 2026Frequently asked questions
- What does Payward do?
- Payward is the parent company behind Kraken and a portfolio of financial products covering trading, custody, payments, lending, onchain finance, and benchmarks. It builds interoperable infrastructure connecting crypto, tokenized assets, and traditional markets for global operation across multiple jurisdictions.
- Who founded Payward?
- Payward was founded by Jesse Powell.
- Who are Payward's investors?
- Payward's investors include Radicle Impact, DRW Venture Capital, Nasdaq Ventures, Trammell Venture Partners, Trammell Venture Partners (TVP), Tribe Capital, TVP Bitcoin Venture.
- How much funding has Payward raised?
- Payward has disclosed $822.7M raised across 6 of its 7 known rounds.
- Where is Payward headquartered?
- Payward is headquartered in Cheyenne, US.