Metaverse payment platform Tilia secures strategic investment from J.P Morgan

Tilia, an online payment platform catering to NFT providers, mobile app developers, virtual world creators, and gamers, has received funding from J.P Morgan Payments and Dunamu, the operator of crypto exchange Upbit. The company announced the development on Tuesday. 

Tilia enables companies to transact and make payments to anyone in the virtual economy world while adhering to regulations. This is a significant departure from traditional online applications that only permit one-way transactions between users and vendors.

According to Catherine Porter, the Chief Business Officer (CBO) of Tilia, the emergence of user-generated content in online platforms and the gaming world has necessitated a platform where users can make payments on behalf of other persons. Users can pay creators and vice versa, even if the real identity of the person you’re paying is unknown

After Tilia’s spin-off from Linden Lab in 2022, it has raised $22 million. The startup will allow application operators to realize more of the worth of all transactions made concerning their product.

“The only way [most companies] can pay their users and creators is if they turn them into 1099 contractors, which isn’t scalable.”

Catherine Porter, Chief Business Officer, Tilia

 Summary of Tilia’s development

In 2019, Linden Lab, the mastermind behind the virtual world Second Life, brought Tilia to life. This gave users the power to purchase Linden dollars and utilize them for transactions within the Second Life universe. And now, seven years after Tilia’s inception, the platform has secured a whopping $35 million in funding, acquiring the highly-coveted Money Transmitter License (MTL) to meet the regulatory requirements. Tilia plans to leverage this investment to bolster its team, currently standing at over 70, to keep up with the escalating demand of its ever-growing business.

Tilia is yet to disclose how many people use the payment platform, but it says millions of transactions occur on the platform, including Second Life’s $650 million economy.

The startup appointed Brad Oberwager, an industry expert, as the new Chief Executive Officer. He was once an Executive Chair at Tilia and has led tech companies like Blue Tiger Network, Bare snacks, and more.

“At Tilia, we have a massive opportunity to unlock new revenue streams for both online creators and the platforms they build in, whether they are gaming worlds, social platforms, or next-generation marketplaces.”

Brad Oberwager, Chief Executive Officer Tilia

The company appointed its first CBO, Porter, who once led international collaborations at Meta. He also worked at LinkedIn, Oracle, Google, and OpenTable. Aston Waldman is Tilia’s newly appointed Chief Financial Officer.

Photo credits: Pixabay