Payday, a Rwandan-born Pan-African neobank issuing global payments accounts denominated in USD, EUR, and GBP to Africans, has announced a $3 million seed round to drive its “future of work” initiative by revolutionizing borderless payment alternatives in major currencies.

Moniepoint Inc, led the oversubscribed seed round, with participation from HoaQ, DFS Lab’s Stellar Africa Fund, Ingressive Capital Fund II, and angel investors – Dare Okoudjou, Founder and CEO of MFS Africa and Tola Onayemi, CEO of Norabase. They join follow-on investors Techstars, Angels Touch, Ingressive Capital & Now Venture Partners. Along with existing investors Ethos VC, Magic Fund, Ventures Platform, Voltron Capital, and others.

Having secured a $2 million+ pre-seed round in 2021, this investment caped the startup’s total funding to date at $5.1 million. Payday plans to utilize the funds to secure operational licensing in the United Kingdom and Canada, while building out operations in the United Kingdom, where the company has recently been incorporated. The funding will also be used to boost talent acquisition as Payday looks to further fuel the future of work through borderless payment alternatives in major currencies.

Additionally,  the round also sees the expansion of the co-founding team with the addition of Elijah Kingson – Payday’s current CPO who previously led product design for Premium and subscription products at British-Lithuanian neobank, Revolut. Yvonne Obike, the company’s current COO, has also joined the co-founding team. Her work with Nigeria’s Bank of Industry saw her drive MSME growth, societal rehabilitation, economic recovery, and development to local, national, and international stakeholders. The team has also brought on board former Goldman Sachs and Expedia Product Manager, Sean Udeke as Head of products.

What the Stakeholders are Saying

Commenting on the funding round, Favor Ori, CEO and Founder of Payday said, “We’re thrilled that this round of funding will lay the foundation for the continued growth of our platform as we expand our services to a wider audience. This investment represents a significant milestone for our company and we are grateful for the trust and commitment shown by our existing and new investors. We’re amped to scale our platform and reach more Africans, not only on the continent but around the world. Our passion for empowering individuals and businesses with convenient and secure payment solutions is tangible. We believe this funding will allow us to do so even more.”

Also speaking on the investment, the lead investor, Tosin Eniolorunda, CEO of Moniepoint Inc remarks “At Moniepoint, we’re excited about the unique things Favour and the team are doing with Payday. I connect deeply with his drive, technical depth, and desire to execute. The urge to encourage that fire inspired us to want to be a part of this. More important is the alignment in our goal to provide financial happiness by addressing key payment pain points – Moniepoint with merchants and Payday with individuals. We see a potential to leverage their infrastructure to further deepen our suite of financial services for merchants, and we’re looking forward to all that’s to come.”

What you should know about Payday

Launched in June 2021, in Kigali, Rwanda to support African remote workers, freelancers, and digital professionals with frictionless, borderless payments, enabling global payment processing from over 130 countries, Payday made history as the first Rwandan company to join Techstars accelerator program. The startup facilitates the seamless sending and receiving of money in USD, GBP, Euros, and 20 other currencies, by Africans in the continent and those in the diaspora, allowing Africans to work remotely for international organizations, and be paid and withdraw money in the currency of their choice regardless of location.

Currently operational in Nigeria, Rwanda, and the UK, Payday offers its 330,000+ users virtual Visa and Mastercards, which can quickly be generated using the Payday App. Onboarding 100,000+ new users a month and processing an average of 40,000 transactions per day,  amounting to a monthly sum exceeding $25 million. Such remarkable figures have even tempted a unicorn corporation from the continent to extend a generous $15 million acquisition offer, only to be declined as per the company’s statement. Also, in February 2023, the two-year-old fintech partnered with SpaceX’s Starlink, allowing users in Nigeria and Rwanda to purchase Starlink routers through their platform. This groundbreaking collaboration has already processed nearly $1 million, solidifying the fintech’s position as a leader in the industry.

According to the CEO, Favour Ori the startup achieved profitability in August 2022 and its monthly revenues have surged fourfold thanks to a rapidly growing user base and the fees charged on transactions.