Iris exited stealth with a $43 million commitment from Balesia Group and launched its financial network for telecom operators, with Bolivia-based VIVA the first licensed operator to go live.

Iris helps telecom operators monetise economic activity flowing across their infrastructure rather than allowing hyperscalers and app developers to capture most of the value generated on their networks.

Operators plug their identity, billing and distribution systems into Iris to add revenue-generating services such as advertising, settlement reconciliation and financial services without replacing their existing technology.

Iris operates its own network on Avalanche, which provides the blockchain infrastructure for transactions to settle on-chain.

Payments across the Iris network settle in USDi, a dollar-backed stablecoin issued and redeemed by US-based stablecoin infrastructure company Agora. Businesses use it to pay one another while keeping operating reserves in dollars rather than leaving cash idle.

VIVA CEO Ryan Alvarez stated the company is investing heavily in infrastructure to bring subscribers into the digital economy.

“Iris lets us create more value from what we’ve already built, including new revenue streams that didn’t exist before, and helps transform us into a platform for new products and services,” he stated.

Scalability
Iris cited McKinsey data showing global mobile data traffic grew more than 50% a year between 2012 and 2025, while operator service revenue over the same period grew barely 1% a year, with hyperscalers capturing most of the economic value created by the traffic. The company stated Iris is built to close that gap.

Iris CEO Jules Miller explained operators have spent years watching others get paid for building on top of the infrastructure they operate.

“Now Iris gives them the tools to turn those assets into new products and new revenue streams,” she said. “VIVA saw that opportunity early, and our partnership is already proving the model works and is highly scalable in the real world.”

Balesia Group owns and operates nine operating companies across eight countries in the Americas.

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