Borja Martel Seward
Borja Martel Seward (born January 9, 1997) is an Argentinian-Spanish entrepreneur and angel investor. He is passionate about cryptocurrencies, technology, the environment, and the importance of mindset and moon shooting for any business endeavor and life.
Seward is the Co-founder and COO of Lemon Cash,[1][2] one of the fastest-growing fintech companies in its region and the most prominent crypto bank in Latin America with 2M+ users. Borja led the fundraising process for $45M+, becoming the highest series A for an Argentine company in the fintech sector. He is also a Global Shaper for the World Economic Forum, an Argentine Delegate for the G20 YEA and B20 2018 (G20), and a Global Ambassador for Draper University in California, part of the Draper Venture Network.
Borja is also an active speaker in several international events related to fintech, cryptocurrencies, technology, entrepreneurship, and discussion tables shared with global leaders.[3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10]
Early Life and Education
Martel Seward is the youngest of four and was raised in the countryside in Argentina.
During his adolescence, he moved to Buenos Aires, where he finished his secondary studies. He then lived abroad in Spain and the United States (New York) before starting his university career in 2017.
Borja studied Data Science oriented to Strategic Management and Sociology at the Buenos Aires Institute of Technology (ITBA). He founded several companies (Mana Growth, Marketify, Lucus & Patagon OTC) while studying to pay for his education. His latest creation was Lemon, which he started while attending college. During his university studies and due to his successful endeavors, he was selected at 21 to participate in the B20 (G20) and G20 YEA as an Argentine Entrepreneurship Delegate.
In 2018, Seward co-established the Australia LATAM Emerging Leaders Dialogue after participating at the Business 20 (B20) Summit at the G20 YEA as an Argentinian delegate to strengthen relations between Argentina, Latin America, and Australia.[11]
Career
In 2011, Seward mined his first bitcoin, and later on in 2019,[12] after raising $100,000 from Draper University Ventures, he co-founded Lemon Cash with his friend Marcelo Cavazzoli.[10] Serving as its CBO, the company became the largest crypto bank in Latin America, with $45M+ in funding.[3][4][6][7][9]
During the COVID-19 lockdown, Borja worked from a cabin in Lobos until they decided to settle in San Martín de Los Andes. In 2021, Lemon Cash was moved to Buenos Aires.[10] A year after its inception, in December 2020, the company raised $1M in a seed round led by the United States fund Draper University and Argentine fund Draper Cygnus, together with its peers Silent Unicorn and Amagis Capital, both from the United Kingdom. After that, by April 2021, the company raised an extra $16.3M with Kingsway Capital as the lead investor.[13][14]
In December 2021, Borja led a series A extension and raised an extra $26M, taking the company's total funding to $45M+. Lemon Cash opened operations in Brazil amid a crypto boom.[5] In May 2022, Lemon Cash introduced a beta version of its platform, allowing 10,000 users to buy and sell bitcoin (BTC) and ether (ETH) using Brazilian reals through Pix, a real-time retail payment system launched by the Brazilian Central Ban. In June 2022, the company partnered with OpenNode to integrate the Lightning Network into the wallet, providing access to fast and cheap Bitcoin transactions to its 1M customers in Argentina.[15][12][16] Moreover, Lemon Cash introduced a crypto card in late 2021 in partnership with Visa, which became the largest nonbank-issued prepaid card in the southern cone.[17][8][2]
In 2022, he was featured on the Forbes Argentina Cover.
Personal Life
In several interviews, Martel has stated his passion for environmental and sustainable endeavors and goals. He is an active donor to the Argentinian NGO Eco House and has participated in or funded several environmental impact projects.
Seward is one of the 500.000 persons who made it to the Top of Mount Kilimanjaro, the highest mountain in Africa and a single free-standing mountain above sea level.
References
- ↑ (in en) Lemon Cash Co-Founder on Crypto in Latin America, https://www.coindesk.com/video/lemon-cash-co-founder-on-crypto-in-latin-america/, retrieved 2023-06-15
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Argentinian Exchange Lemon Cash Expands to Brazil Amid Crypto Boom" (in en). 2022-03-16. https://www.coindesk.com/business/2022/03/16/argentinian-exchange-lemon-cash-expands-to-brazil-amid-crypto-boom/.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Sourtech. "En la nueva edición de Forbes: "Dame un bitcoin"" (in es). https://www.forbesargentina.com/innovacion/en-nueva-edicion-forbes-dame-bitcoin-n15091.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 "Lemon Cash Co-Founder on Crypto in Latin America" (in en-US). 2022-04-21. https://finance.yahoo.com/video/lemon-cash-co-founder-crypto-194000870.html.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 "Argentine Crypto Exchange Lemon Sheds Roughly 100 Jobs, Cites Challenging Industry Conditions" (in en). 2022-11-24. https://www.coindesk.com/business/2022/11/24/argentine-crypto-exchange-lemon-sheds-roughly-100-jobs-citing-challenging-industry-conditions/.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 "Borja Martel Seward, cofundador de Lemon: “El nuevo objetivo que tenemos es ser rentables”" (in es). 2022-08-03. https://www.bloomberglinea.com/2022/08/02/borja-martel-seward-de-lemon-el-nuevo-objetivo-que-tenemos-es-ser-rentables/.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 (in en) Crypto hasta la cima. Los aprendizajes del fundador de Lemon, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=46tloSjriU8, retrieved 2023-06-15
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 "Lemon Cash, Argentina Cryptocurrency Exchange Has Expanded To Brazil - CoinCu News" (in en-US). 2022-03-16. https://news.coincu.com/73213-lemon-cash-argentina-cryptocurrency-exchange-has-expanded-to-brazil/.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 "RoadShow - Borja Martel Seward, co-fundador de Lemon Cash: “Cada vez que cae el Bitcoin es una oportunidad de compra”" (in es-AR). 2022-01-26. https://www.roadshow.com.ar/borja-martel-seward-co-fundador-de-lemon-cash-cada-vez-que-cae-el-bitcoin-es-una-oportunidad-de-compra/.
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 "Borja Martel Seward, Co-Fundador de Lemon Cash: 'Bitcoin es Resguardo de Valor'". 2022-05-12. https://elplanteo.com/borja-martel-seward-lemon-cash-billetera-criptomonedas-bitcoin/.
- ↑ "Australia And Latin America". https://www.australialatam.com/about.
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 OpenNode. "OpenNode partners with Lemon Cash to enable Lightning-fast Bitcoin payments and payouts for its 1M+ customers" (in en). https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/opennode-partners-with-lemon-cash-to-enable-lightning-fast-bitcoin-payments-and-payouts-for-its-1m-customers-301579068.html.
- ↑ "Argentinian Crypto Exchange Lemon Cash Raises $16M to Expand in Latin America" (in en). 2021-07-27. https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2021/07/27/argentinian-crypto-exchange-lemon-cash-raises-16m-to-expand-in-latin-america/.
- ↑ "Lemon: Argentina-based crypto fintech raises $16.3 million Series A round" (in en-US). 2021-07-27. https://labsnews.com/en/articles/business/argentina-based-crypto-fintech-lemon-raises-16-3-million-series-a-round/.
- ↑ "OpenNode partners Lemon Cash to give Argentinians access to Bitcoin's Lightning Network" (in en). 2022-07-06. https://cryptonews.net/news/blokcheyn/8977127/.
- ↑ Radmilac, Andjela (2022-07-06). "OpenNode partners Lemon Cash to give Argentinians access to Bitcoin's Lightning Network" (in en-US). https://cryptoslate.com/1-million-argentinians-now-have-access-to-the-lightning-network/.
- ↑ Goschenko, Sergio (2022-06-21). "Visa Launches Bitcoin and Crypto Enabled Cards in Latam" (in en). https://news.bitcoin.com/visa-launches-bitcoin-and-crypto-enabled-cards-in-latam/.
