VIA and Stellar Development Foundation Collaborate with Hope for Haiti to Deliver Safe, Cashless Aid

The program with Hope for Haiti will deliver over $200,000 in nutritional support to mothers through VIA’s ultra-secure, ultra-simple technology

BOSTON, Dec. 17, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — VIA Science, Inc. (VIA) today announced a collaboration with the Stellar Development Foundation to support the disbursement of aid through Hope for Haiti. Hope for Haiti is a nonprofit working to alleviate poverty in southern Haiti for mothers facing financial hardship, and caring for children in need of nutritional assistance. Through this collaboration, mothers will receive funds, as stablecoins on the Stellar network, directly to a VIA app on their smartphones, eliminating the need for, and reducing the risks, that often come with carrying cash.

This six-month program will distribute more than $200,000 to 325 mothers connected with Hope for Haiti through their nutritional programs. Each participant will receive a monthly stipend of $100, which can be cashed out, transferred to other individuals, or used at multiple merchants in Haiti through VIA’s technology.

“Cash has traditionally been a common way to deliver aid in Haiti, but it can create safety risks and limit transparency,” said Skyler Badenoch, CEO of Hope for Haiti. “With VIA’s technology, we’re able to deliver support more securely, efficiently, and transparently, getting resources directly to the families who need them most.”

VIA’s technology will distribute the funds as a cryptocurrency called USD Coin (USDC), a stablecoin redeemable 1:1 for U.S. dollars and regulated under U.S. financial laws, offering reliability and protection from the volatility typically associated with other cryptocurrencies. To receive or use funds, both recipients and merchants only need a smartphone less than 10 years old.

“Limited access to traditional financial systems creates significant obstacles for humanitarian aid delivery,” said Candace Kelly, Chief Legal and Policy Officer for the Stellar Development Foundation. “By leveraging the Stellar network, organizations gain end-to-end transparency and can transfer funds directly to recipients, minimizing the risks inherent in cash-based operations. Combined with VIA’s ultra-secure technology, we ensure reliable and efficient delivery of assistance to communities in need.”

In addition to providing greater transparency, VIA’s technology has been designed for disrupted environments like active war zones where internet and electricity are unreliable, making it well-suited for the challenges of delivering aid in Haiti. This enables offline payments, meaning participants can use it to pay for goods or services, regardless of connectivity.

“When someone is trusting our technology instead of carrying cash or a credit card, it has to work every time. That’s why our technology is built on military-grade capabilities that are designed to perform in the harshest, often deliberately disrupted environments,” said Colin Gounden, co-founder and CEO of VIA. “Our goal is to make tools that work reliably wherever people need them, because their safety and well-being depend on it. Supporting families in Haiti is a natural extension of what drives us at VIA. We build secure, human-centric technology that’s accessible to those who need it, when they need it.”

Over the past decade and beyond, Haiti has received significant aid from the international community due to natural disasters and social and political unrest, underscoring the importance of ensuring assistance reaches those who need it the most and making this collaboration a strong model for how secure, cashless technology can deliver support more safely, reliably, and transparently, to everyone, especially the unbanked. The success of this program has the potential to shape how future aid programs scale to better protect and empower the most vulnerable populations.

About VIA
VIA is the trusted Web3 technology partner to the Pentagon and Fortune 100 companies around the globe, driven to make mission-critical digital assets accessible anywhere, anytime, through ultra-secure, ultra-simple technology. Backed by 19 issued patents, VIA’s quantum-resistant, passwordless, military-grade technologies safeguard customers’ most valuable digital assets from human and AI agent threats. Learn more at www.solvewithvia.com.

About Stellar Development Foundation
The Stellar Development Foundation (SDF) is a non-profit organization focused on working with and supporting changemakers to create equitable access to the global financial system through blockchain technology. SDF provides grants, investments, funding, and other awards to builders and organizations. SDF also develops resources and tooling on the Stellar network to help unlock real world utility. As a nonprofit foundation, SDF puts the health of the Stellar network and the Stellar ecosystem and its mission above all else. For more information, visit https://stellar.org/foundation.

About Hope for Haiti
With experience running poverty alleviation programs in Haiti since 1989, Hope for Haiti has emerged as one of the most trusted non-profit organizations working to improve the quality of life for the Haitian people, particularly women and children. The organization’s team and network of partners in southern Haiti provide people with better access to education, healthcare, water, and economic development opportunities. Hope for Haiti is a 4-star charity by Charity Navigator and a participant at the Platinum Level through the GuideStar Exchange, two leading independent evaluators recognizing the organization’s transparency and careful stewardship of donor resources. To learn more: www.hopeforhaiti.com.

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/via-and-stellar-development-foundation-collaborate-with-hope-for-haiti-to-deliver-safe-cashless-aid-302644815.html

SOURCE VIA Science, Inc.