Sila

Sila is a financial technology company offering an API that lets developers add banking and payment capabilities to their applications. The platform supports white-label ACH payment processing, money transfers and digital wallets, delivered in a compliant manner so that customers can launch financial products without integrating directly with legacy financial institutions.

The API includes a built-in stablecoin, SILA, an ERC-20 token pegged 100:1 to the U.S. dollar, with funds held at an FDIC member bank. The company's stated partners include Plaid, Evolve Bank & Trust and Alloy. Pricing was set at $4,999 to $9,999 per month, alongside a free tier.

Founding story

Sila was co-founded by CEO Shamir Karkal, who previously co-founded the online bank Simple (acquired by BBVA for $117 million in 2014) and later built API platforms at BBVA in Europe and the U.S.; Angela Angelovska-Wilson, an attorney and former executive at Digital Asset; Isaac Hines, a finance executive previously at NuScale Power; and Alexander Lipton, a former Merrill Lynch and Bank of America managing director. Karkal's account traces the idea to the difficulty of assembling banking infrastructure at Simple, which took roughly three years from concept to launch largely because of the time needed to find and connect bank and processor partners.

Business model

Sila sells access to its financial infrastructure API to companies that want to embed banking and payment features in their own products, positioning itself as a replacement for direct integrations with legacy financial institutions.

Recurring monthly subscription fees, quoted between $4,999 and $9,999 per month, with a $0 per month tier also offered.

Traction

As of April 2020 the company had 14 employees and reported that its customer base, which was not concentrated in hospitality, travel or brick-and-mortar retail, had not been adversely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.