Waza, a Y Combinator-backed B2B payments platform, has emerged from stealth mode with $8 million in seed funding aimed at bolstering cross-border transactions for African businesses.
The round includes $3 million in equity from investors such as Y Combinator, Byld Ventures, Norrsken Africa, Heirloom VC, Plug and Play Tech Center, and Olive Tree Capital. Lagos- and New York-based Timon Capital also provided $5 million in venture debt financing, which Waza will utilise to pilot trade financing solutions for large enterprise clients.
Founded by Maxwell Obi and Emmanuel Igbodudu, Waza was established to tackle the challenges faced by businesses operating in emerging markets, particularly in Africa. Limited access to hard currencies like USD, EUR, and GBP, combined with complex regulatory frameworks and high transaction fees, has made cross-border payments a challenging task for many companies.
Waza addresses these pain points by offering a user-friendly platform that facilitates seamless, secure, and affordable B2B payments, even in the absence of hard currencies.
Waza’s journey began in January 2023, following its participation in Y Combinator’s winter batch. In its first month, the fintech processed $280,000 in total payment volume, rapidly scaling to $70 million in monthly payment volume by May, translating to an impressive $700 million in annualised transaction volume.
The startup’s revenues, derived from FX spreads and a take rate of 0.75% to 1%, have been growing by an average of 20% monthly.
The platform focuses on a diverse range of clients across six continents, including multinational organisations operating locally in Africa, importers and traders transacting with suppliers in countries like India, China, and the U.K., and other fintechs and developers requiring API infrastructure for building cross-border payment solutions.
Waza’s competitive edge lies in its global banking relationships, payment infrastructure control, and ability to offer faster, more affordable settlement options compared to traditional banks and other fintech competitors such as AZA Finance, Verto, and Conduit.
Co-founder and CEO Maxwell Obi brings a wealth of experience to Waza, having previously co-founded Amplify, a Nigerian fintech acquired by Carbon, and later working with Sendwave, a subsidiary of Zepz.
It was during his time at Sendwave, while navigating partnerships and regulatory relationships across Africa, Asia, and Latin America, that Obi identified the need for a service to manage global supplier and vendor payments — a need that Waza now fulfils.
Emmanuel Igbodudu, Waza’s co-founder and CTO, also has a strong technical background, with experience as a senior engineer at Revolut, where he led the Vaults team, and roles at well-known Nigerian fintechs like Moniepoint and Fairmoney.
Together, the founders are leveraging their expertise to expand Waza’s services into other trade finance and cross-border payment solutions, with plans to diversify the company’s revenue streams.
Waza is exploring the development of new products, including a banking solution for businesses, akin to Brex or Mercury for Africa, and a stablecoin banking product tailored for the digital economy. The seed investment will support these initiatives and facilitate Waza’s expansion into new markets beyond its current operations in Ghana and Nigeria.
Chris Muscarella, managing director of Timon Capital, said, “The Waza team has deep experience around cross-border flows, and they are going after one of the bigger opportunities in frontier markets.”
Waza aims to leverage the $7 trillion global market, providing essential liquidity and payment solutions for businesses in Africa and beyond.
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