Tag: Alter Global

  • Fuse Raises $6.6 Million to Simplify Cross-Border Payments in MENA

    Fuse Raises $6.6 Million to Simplify Cross-Border Payments in MENA

    Dubai-based fintech startup, Fuse, has raised $6.6 million in seed funding to simplify cross-border payments across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). 

    This funding will bolster the development of Fuse’s platform, designed to break down obstacles in the fragmented MENA banking space. The region’s complex regulations and banking systems have traditionally made it difficult for global businesses to operate smoothly. 

    Fuse, however, is stepping in with a solution to this long-standing problem. Founded in 2023 by George Davis, a former co-founder of BVNK, and James Smith, the company’s Chief Technology Officer, Fuse is offering a virtual International Bank Account Number (IBAN) product aimed at global businesses wanting to move money seamlessly within MENA. 

    This product is commonplace in Europe, but Fuse claims it is the first to offer such a solution for MENA. As Davis put it, “We’re currently the only provider of virtual IBANs in the Middle East… it simply didn’t exist.”

    The platform provides businesses with USD-denominated virtual IBANs for international transactions and local UAE IBANs for regional payments. The advantage of this offering is that companies can now perform cross-border money movements and local payouts without the need for complex local banking setups, foreign exchange (FX) handling, or navigating regulatory issues.

    Many businesses, especially those based in the US, Europe, and Asia, have long struggled with entering the MENA region. Traditionally, they’ve faced two choices: work with smaller local payment firms that lack scale or rely on larger global players that lack local licences and often fail to provide reliable partnerships. 

    Fuse finds its niche in the middle, offering a fully licensed, scalable infrastructure solution for businesses needing access to the MENA region. “Fuse is built for the Middle East,” Davis said, drawing a distinction between Fuse and its global counterparts, such as Visa-backed Currencycloud.

    Fuse’s solution is already in demand. The company now serves over 20 clients, including well-known businesses such as DLocal, RemotePass, and platforms like Deel, Airbnb, and Etsy. 

    The platform’s main strength lies in its ability to process payments instantly and efficiently. Clients can use the platform to issue virtual IBANs for employees or customers, enabling them to pay salaries or make other local transactions without the need for a local presence or entity.

    One of Fuse’s unique features is its ability to support businesses in a wide range of sectors, including payroll, remittance services, and e-commerce.

    For example, Fuse enables employers in the US to pay salaries to employees in the UAE, all while bypassing the need for complex compliance or residency requirements. 

    With the platform’s smart routing and real-time notifications, businesses can be assured that payments are processed accurately and swiftly.

    The funding round, which was led by Northzone, a European venture capital firm, also saw contributions from Flourish Ventures, Alter Global, and notable individual investors, including Olugbenga “GB” Agboola, CEO of Flutterwave, and George Makhoul, the former president of Morgan Stanley MENA. 

    Sanjot Malhi, partner at Northzone, highlighted the importance of Fuse’s approach, noting, “The Fuse team is transforming payment infrastructure in one of the world’s fastest-growing markets… their ability to simplify MENA’s complex cross-border flows is exactly what the region needs.”

    Fuse plans to use this fresh capital to expand its team and secure additional regional licences. The company aims to extend its services beyond the UAE, expanding into countries like Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and Jordan. 

    This comes at a time when the region is experiencing an explosion in e-commerce and digital payments, creating a fertile ground for businesses like Fuse to thrive.

    For now, Fuse is firmly anchored in the UAE, but with plans to scale quickly, it looks set to become the go-to company in the MENA fintech sector.

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  • Nigerian Crypto Startup, Nestcoin, Raises $6.45m Pre-Seed Funding Round

    Nigerian startup building, operating, and investing in web3 applications, Nestcoin, has raised $6.45 million in pre-seed funding round.

    Nestcoin will leverage the fund to expand its global operations and invest in more products to accelerate crypto adoption and financial freedom for people in frontier markets.

    Yele Bademosi, who previously founded Microtraction, Binance and Bundle, alongside Taiwo Orilogbon, co-founded Nestcoin with the goal to democratise access to economic opportunities presented by crypto and web3, making it simple and accessible to everyday people.

    Last year, the company launched Breach, its media arm created to advance crypto education globally, and Metaverse Magna (MVM), a crypto gaming guild that helps users earn up to $1,000 per month. Nestcoin also has several other products in the pipeline, designed to provide compelling use cases for crypto.

    MVM has had over 2,000 applications since its launch. However, only 400 gamers are currently live on the platform, a number the company is looking to increase to 1,000 before next quarter – for context, some of the largest guilds have a player size of around 2,000 to 3,000.

    The $6.45 million in funding comes from a global group of investors, including Distributed Global, Alter Global, Serena Ventures, Alameda Research, A&T Capital, MSA Capital, 4DX Ventures, Raba Capital, Goat.vc, Social Capital, Old Fashion Research, CMT Digital, Electric Capital, Social Capital, CoinFund, gumi Cryptos Capital, and DeFi Alliance, among others.

    We are excited that our investors are backing this ambitious plan to create a future where billions of people in frontier markets have access to the opportunities that crypto brings. With this financing, we will continue to grow our diverse team, which already spans nine countries, expand our product offerings, and invest in more ventures aligned with our vision,” Bademosi said.

    Nestcoin also hopes to introduce its DeFi projects by Q2 this year. In addition to that, the company will be exploring ways in which content creators on the platform can earn crypto while educating its 6,000 subscribers with structured learning paths.

    The company’s pre-seed round is the second-largest in Africa and largest in Nigeria as well as sub-Saharan Africa right now and will be used to develop more products and improve existing ones.

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