Payday, a prominent pan-African neobank with headquarters in Rwanda that provides global accounts to Africans, has announced a US $3 million seed round to support its growth in Europe and North America.
Payday, which was launched in June 2021 by Favour Ori, was created to support remote workers, independent contractors, and digital professionals in Africa by facilitating frictionless, borderless payments from more than 130 countries.
Africans can now work remotely for international organizations and be paid and withdraw funds in the currency of their choice, no matter where they are, thanks to a startup that enables users to send and receive money in USD, GBP, Euros, and 20 other currencies. Payday offers its more than 330,000 users virtual Visa and Mastercards that can be quickly generated using the Payday app. Payday is currently operational in Nigeria, Rwanda, and the UK.
Payday, the first Rwandan company ever to join Techstars, adds over 100,000 new users every month and processes 40,000 transactions on average every day. After receiving a US $3 million seed round of funding, which was led by Moniepoint (formerly TeamApt) and included HoaQ, DFS Lab’s Stellar Africa Fund, and angel investors like Dare Okoudjou and Tola Onayemi, it is now prepared for further expansion.
They join existing investors Now Venture Partners, Ingressive Capital, Techstars, and Angels Touch. Payday also secured a US $2 million pre-seed round in 2021 and has the support of investors like Ethos VC, MAGIC Fund, Ventures Platform, and Voltron Capital.
The company’s recently incorporated in the United Kingdom, where the oversubscribed round will be used to expand operations while securing operational licensing in the United Kingdom and Canada.
As the startup’s team grows from 35 to 50 employees, funding will also be used to strengthen talent acquisition. Payday aims to further fuel the future of work by offering borderless payment options in major currencies. Elijah Kingson, Payday’s current CPO, and Yvonne Obike, the company’s current COO, join the co-founding team as a result of the round.
“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 investors both existing and new,” Ori said.
“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, and we believe that this funding will allow us to do so on an even greater scale.”
The CEO of Moniepoint, Tosin Eniolorunda, expressed his company’s excitement about the innovative work being done by Ori and the Payday team.
“Personally, 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,” he said.
“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.”
