Tim Draper backs Ryder’s seed round for TapSafe wallet recovery
-N3Qkq2O2.png "Tim Draper backs Ryder’s seed round for TapSafe wallet recovery")
Ryder, a Singapore-based crypto hardware wallet company, has raised $3.2 million in a seed round led by Tim Draper’s Draper Associates. Other investors include Borderless Capital, Semantic Ventures, Smape, VeryEarly, and individual backers such as Solana co-founder Anatoly Yakovenko and Asymmetric founder Joe McCann.
The funding will go toward expanding production of Ryder One, the company’s hardware wallet, and developing TapSafe, its recovery technology that replaces traditional seed phrases. Ryder also plans to grow its engineering and marketing teams as it prepares to launch the product globally.
TapSafe divides wallet recovery data into separate parts stored across a user’s phone and small NFC recovery tags. This allows users to restore access without needing a single seed phrase, reducing the chance of losing funds due to misplaced backups. The system uses a self-custodial model, meaning users keep full control of their assets.
TapSafe divides wallet recovery data into separate parts stored across a user’s phone and small NFC recovery tags. This allows users to restore access without needing a single seed phrase, reducing the chance of losing funds due to misplaced backups. The system uses a self-custodial model, meaning users keep full control of their assets.
Ryder’s co-founder and CEO, Louise Ivan Payawal, said the company designed the product to make crypto storage simpler and safer. According to Payawal, setup and recovery take less than a minute and require no seed phrases or passwords. Co-founder and CTO Marvin Janssen described the process as similar to tapping a phone to complete an action.
Tim Draper said he supported Ryder’s work because it offers a way to manage crypto without advanced technical skills while maintaining high security standards.
The TapSafe system builds on Ryder’s earlier research from 2023, when the company raised $1.2 million to prototype its wallet and eliminate seed phrases. In September 2025, Ryder released OS 1.3.0, adding Bitcoin support and an optional 24-word backup feature for compatibility with existing wallets.
Wallet uses mobile and NFC communication for interaction between devices and recovery tags. Each tag holds part of the recovery data under a cryptographic scheme that prevents any single component from exposing the entire private key.
The company also partnered with Alchemy Pay to let users buy or sell crypto directly within the wallet. Execs said they will use the new funding to scale production and make TapSafe available in more markets during 2026.
Tim Draper said he supported Ryder’s work because it offers a way to manage crypto without advanced technical skills while maintaining high security standards.
The TapSafe system builds on Ryder’s earlier research from 2023, when the company raised $1.2 million to prototype its wallet and eliminate seed phrases. In September 2025, Ryder released OS 1.3.0, adding Bitcoin support and an optional 24-word backup feature for compatibility with existing wallets.
Wallet uses mobile and NFC communication for interaction between devices and recovery tags. Each tag holds part of the recovery data under a cryptographic scheme that prevents any single component from exposing the entire private key.
The company also partnered with Alchemy Pay to let users buy or sell crypto directly within the wallet. Execs said they will use the new funding to scale production and make TapSafe available in more markets during 2026.
Author
Sebile Fane cut her teeth in blockchain by building tiny NFT experiments with friends in her living room, long before the buzzwords took hold. She’s driven by a curiosity for the human stories behind smart contracts — whether it’s a small-town artist minting her first token or a DAO voting on climate grants — and weaves technical insight with genuine empathy.
