PayDay, the pan-African fintech startup has raised $3 million in seed funding. The round was led by Moniepoint Inc, with participation from Techstars, Ingressive Capital, HoaQ, DFS Lab, MFS Africa CEO, Dare Okoudjou and Norebase CEO, Tola Onayemi.
The payments solution provider was founded in 2021 to enable Africans to access more global currencies. PayDay enables Africans to get paid in currencies that include USD, GBP, and EUR. This opens more opportunities for remote workers and freelance workers.
PayDay also issues virtual To virtual dollar cards which enable users to receive global payments. The app is currently only available in Rwanda and Nigeria.
Favour Ori founder and CEO of PayDay said, “We are building TransferWise for Africa; we want our customers to move money faster with the bank accounts and cards we issue. Other platforms focus on Africans in the diaspora; we’re focusing on people in Africa while planning to focus on those abroad by expanding to the U.K.”
The startup is operating in the same niche with fintech apps such as Grey, Lemonade Finance, Send by Flutterwave, and Chipper Cash. The company has, however, reported that it’s been profitable since August 2022, raking in revenue from fees charged on transactions.
By the close of last year, the firm had amassed slightly over 100,000 users, attributed to aggressive social media marketing. Its products including the virtual cards are now being used by more than 300 000 users. The company processes an average of 40,000 transactions daily and over $25 million monthly.
According to the CEO, these numbers have attracted up to $15 million in acquisition offers by one of the continent’s unicorns, but they have turned them down.
The company says the new capital raised will be deployed 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. Funding will also be used to boost talent acquisition as the startup’s team complement expands from 35 to 50 employees, as Payday looks to further fuel the future of work through borderless payment alternatives in major currencies.
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