Business

Toronto Startup “Duma Energy Drink” Revolutionizes How You Feel About Energy Drinks

Published

3 years ago

February 22, 2022

It’s no secret that the energy drink business is massive, and the list of brands emerging into this industry is constantly growing. Every year, the sales volume increases, and there is an increasing demand for safer alternatives. As the founders of Duma, Andrew Zoka and his business partners, Leslie Wiafe Seth VanDaele and Maxim Nechaev have created an energy drink that isn’t just less sugar and caffeine, it actually promotes health and vitality.

Andrew remembers that there were times when he and his team would buy energy drinks to keep themselves going throughout the day. But he always had concerns over what these drinks could do to a person’s health. An idea sprang to life, and he immersed himself in information about the human body and the many different things that can affect it, where he learnt about the work of experts that showed how our energy can be subject to changes due to circadian rhythm, sunlight, sleep, and a multitude of other things.

This charismatic individual began experimenting, searching for the most effective mixture of these ingredients that could provide a boost of energy as well as promote psychological and physical health. One of their goals is to promote health and well-being in a market that is full of arguably dangerous alternatives. “I don’t think there should be unhealthy food products on the market at all in this day and age,” Andrew says.

Duma is so much more than just energy drinks. In fact, it’s their true, underlying purpose that sets them apart from the many other companies that are also putting out health based energy drinks. The real mission is to generate income that can be donated to cutting edge medical research, specifically, for sickle-cell anemia.

This is something that matters very much to Andrew and his business partners, because approximately 300,000 babies per year are born with sickle-cell anemia, and it is a disease that plagues Andrew Zoka himself. This has given Andrew a unique awareness of the fact of how many people around the world, many of them children, suffer from this incurable disease, and he doesn’t believe it is necessary. Thanks to the advancement of medical research and technology, Andrew feels that, with proper funding, a cure could be developed, and sooner rather than later.

Duma hopes to change health both personally through the product, as well as globally through

the research their proceeds can facilitate. Their energy drink is getting set to launch in 10 pilot stores throughout Los Angeles, California, and more than 10 in the Toronto area. The future looks bright for these entrepreneurs, who are excited to be able to make a difference in such a big way, both for now, and possibly for many generations to come.

Business

High Volume, High Value: The Business Logic Behind Black Banx’s Growth

Published

6 days ago

June 16, 2025

Matthew Wiles

In fintech, success no longer hinges on legacy prestige or brick-and-mortar branches—it’s about speed, scale, and precision. Black Banx, under the leadership of founder and CEO Michael Gastauer, has exemplified this model, turning its high-volume approach into high-value results.

The company’s Q1 2025 performance tells the story: $1.6 billion in pre-tax profit, $4.3 billion in revenue, and 9 million new customers added, bringing its total customer base to 78 million across 180+ countries.

But behind the numbers lies a carefully calibrated business model built for exponential growth. Here’s how Black Banx’s strategy of scale is redefining what profitable banking looks like in the digital age.

Scaling at Speed: Why Volume Matters

Unlike traditional banks, which often focus on deepening relationships with a limited set of customers, Black Banx thrives on breadth and transactional frequency. Its digital infrastructure supports onboarding millions of users instantly, with zero physical presence required. Customers can open accounts within minutes and transact across 28 fiat currencies and 2 cryptocurrencies (Bitcoin and Ethereum) from anywhere in the world.

Each customer interaction—whether it’s a cross-border transfer, crypto exchange, or FX transaction—feeds directly into Black Banx’s revenue engine. At scale, these micro-interactions yield macro results.

Real-Time, Global Payments at the Core

One of Black Banx’s most powerful value propositions is real-time cross-border payments. By enabling instant fund transfers across currencies and countries, the platform removes the frictions associated with SWIFT-based systems and legacy banking networks.

This service, used by individuals and businesses alike, generates:

Volume-based revenue from transaction fees
Exchange spreads on currency conversion
Premium service income from business clients managing international payroll or vendor payments

With operations in underserved regions like Africa, South Asia, and Latin America, Black Banx is not only increasing volume—it’s tapping into fast-growing financial ecosystems overlooked by legacy banks.

The Flywheel Effect of Crypto Integration

Crypto capabilities have added another dimension to the company’s high-volume model. As of Q1 2025, 20% of all Black Banx transactions involved cryptocurrency, including:

Crypto-to-fiat and fiat-to-crypto exchanges
Crypto deposits and withdrawals
Payments using Bitcoin or Ethereum

The crypto integration attracts both retail users and blockchain-native businesses, enabling them to:

Access traditional banking rails
Convert assets seamlessly
Operate with lower transaction fees than those found in standard financial systems

By being one of the few regulated platforms offering full banking and crypto support, Black Banx is monetizing the convergence of two financial worlds.

Optimized for Operational Efficiency

High volume is only profitable when costs are contained—and Black Banx has engineered its operations to be lean from day one. With a cost-to-income ratio of just 63% in Q1 2025, it operates significantly more efficiently than most global banks.

Key enablers of this cost efficiency include:

AI-driven compliance and customer support
Cloud-native architecture
Automated onboarding and KYC processes
Digital-only servicing without expensive physical infrastructure

The outcome is a platform that not only scales, but does so without sacrificing margin—each new customer contributes to profit rather than diluting it.

Business Clients: The Value Multiplier

While Black Banx’s massive customer base is largely consumer-driven, its business clients are high-value accelerators. From SMEs and startups to crypto firms and global freelancers, businesses use Black Banx for:

International transactions
Multi-currency payroll
Crypto-fiat settlements
Supplier payments and invoicing

These clients tend to:

Transact more frequently
Use a broader range of services
Generate significantly higher revenue per user

Moreover, Black Banx’s API integrations and tailored enterprise solutions lock in these clients for the long term, reinforcing predictable and scalable growth.

Monetizing the Ecosystem, Not Just the Account

The genius of Black Banx’s model is that it monetizes not just accounts, but entire customer journeys. A user might:

Onboard in minutes
Deposit funds from a crypto wallet
Exchange currencies
Pay an overseas vendor
Withdraw to a local bank account

Each of these actions touches a different monetization lever—FX spread, transaction fee, crypto conversion, or premium service charge. With 78 million customers doing variations of this at global scale, the cumulative financial impact becomes immense.

Strategic Expansion, Not Blind Growth

Unlike many fintechs that chase customer acquisition without a clear monetization path, Black Banx aligns its growth with strategic market opportunities. Its expansion into underbanked and high-demand markets ensures that:

Customer acquisition costs stay low
Services meet genuine needs (e.g., cross-border income, crypto access)
Revenue per user grows over time

It’s not just about acquiring more customers—it’s about acquiring the right customers, in the right markets, with the right needs.

The Future Belongs to Scalable Banking

Black Banx’s ability to transform high-volume engagement into high-value profitability is more than just a fintech success—it’s a signal of what the future of banking looks like. In a world where agility, efficiency, and inclusion define competitive advantage, Black Banx has created a blueprint for digital banking dominance.

With $1.6 billion in quarterly profit, nearly 80 million users, and services that span the globe and the blockchain, the company is no longer just scaling—it’s compounding. Each new user, each transaction, and each feature builds upon the last.

This is not the story of a bank growing.

This is the story of a bank accelerating.