Fidelity's VC Arm Leads $13M Funding Round For Settlement And Clearing Startup, Clear

Clear, a settlement and clearing blockchain startup, formally announced the closure of a $13 million Series A funding round, led by Fidelity International’s venture capital arm Eight Roads, alongside Telefónica’s Innovation Ventures, Telekom Innovation Pool of Deutsche Telekom, HKT and Singtel Innov8, according to The Block.

"Inter-Carrier billing and settlement is complex and often has manual steps," said Federico Homberg, head of roaming business development and innovation at Deutsche Telekom Global Carrier. "Smart Contracts and distributed ledger technology will simplify and automate billing as well as settlement."

The development comes as Clear’s blockchain solutions provide telecoms the ability to improve payment settlements.

“Blockchain adds a trust layer to our operations [and can] significantly decrease friction in the process of financial settlement between carriers and operators,” said Telefónica’s chief innovation officer, Guenia Gawendo.

The funding will allow Clear to grow its team and scale operations beyond the telecom space, such as financial services and health care.

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