The funding round was led by pan-African venture capital firm Oui Capital, with participation from Rally Cap, BKR Capital, and angel investors.

The challenge of cross-border transactions in Africa, resulting from high costs, fragmented financial systems, and poor infrastructure requires collaboration to be resolved. Many businesses and individuals still rely on outdated agent networks or struggle with mobile wallet integrations, making fast and affordable payments difficult.

Cauridor aims to solve these issues by integrating mobile money platforms, banks, and merchants into a single network that enables seamless local and international transactions.

With operations spanning Guinea, Senegal, Ivory Coast, Sierra Leone, and Liberia, Cauridor’s platform supports mobile wallets, bank transfers, and cash pickups through a network of over 25,000 agents. These agents, often small business owners with point-of-sale (POS) devices, facilitate cash deposits, withdrawals, and bill payments.

The company has also established remittance corridors to major African markets like Ghana and Nigeria, forming partnerships with global financial giants such as Ria, MoneyGram, Western Union, Orange, and MTN.

Cauridor’s journey began with its founders, Oumar Rafiou Barry and Abdoulaye Bah, who experienced first-hand the difficulties of sending money to Guinea while studying in Canada.

In 2011, they launched BNB Transfer Corp (originally EZ Money Transfer) to help Guineans in Canada send money home more efficiently. By 2019, they introduced BNB CashApp, a consumer-focused remittance platform that connected directly with banks and mobile wallets.

However, as the business expanded, they encountered a bigger issue: Africa’s payment infrastructure was highly fragmented, particularly in Francophone Africa. “We realized early on that the rails in Francophone Africa were almost non-existent. So we had to go in and start building payment rails in the region since the payments there were fragmented,” said Barry.

This realisation led to a major shift in 2022, with the company rebranding as Cauridor and focusing on building digital payment rails to support both individuals and businesses.

Since pivoting to infrastructure development, Cauridor has seen commendable growth. In 2023, the company processed 2 million transactions, recording a total payment volume (TPV) of $300 million. By 2024, this figure had surged to $500 million, with over 90% of revenue coming from its payment rails business.

Cauridor competes with established players like Onafriq and Thunes but differentiates itself by focusing on underserved markets such as Guinea and Liberia. Barry attributes the company’s success to hands-on customer service and competitive pricing.

For instance, when a recipient is unable to receive the full amount of a mobile money transfer due to incomplete KYC requirements, Cauridor steps in to assist in upgrading the account, ensuring the transaction goes through.

Added to this, its strong local presence gives it an advantage in securing better foreign exchange rates, which it passes on to customers. This approach has attracted major clients, including MoneyGram, which switched from competitors due to better pricing and customer support.

Cauridor, which currently has a global team of over 300 employees and offices in Ivory Coast, Senegal, Guinea, Sierra Leone, and Liberia, is preparing to extend its reach. The company is set to open new offices in Mali and Nigeria this year as part of its expansion strategy.

Barry also revealed plans to explore blockchain integration to streamline settlements and leverage stablecoins for cross-border transactions.

The seed funding round included participation from Liquid2 Ventures, Soma Capital, Tribe Capital, Commerce Ventures, Basecamp Fund, and Y Combinator. Oui Capital also re-invested after participating in the previous $1.3 million pre-seed round.

The seed funding would help the company launch new products and expand into new business verticals in Nigeria.

Founded by Yele Oyekola and Tunde Akinnuwa, Duplo went live in January 2022. The startup has seen great traction with FMCG distributors and finance teams of midsize and enterprise businesses, helping them to digitize and simplify the way money moves between them and their business partners. 

FMCG distributors can onboard retailers in their network on the Duplo platform, making it easier for them to collect payments digitally and access real-time insights into business performance. 

These users can also automate payments to vendors, manufacturers, and suppliers, with instant payments enabling them to transact in larger quantities.

For finance teams, Duplo’s end-to-end solution automates the back office processes of generating and processing invoices, receiving and approving bills, collecting and disbursing funds, and completing account reconciliation. 

“Duplo works seamlessly with all major accounting, and ERP platforms such as Microsoft Dynamics, SAP, QuickBooks, and Sage, and payments processed through Duplo are automatically synced with these platforms in real-time. With Duplo, businesses can cut time spent on admin tasks such as account reconciliation by up to 50 percent and reduce payment-related costs by up to 85 percent.”

The company affirms to have increased the number of businesses on its platform by 1000% in the last six months and has a Total Payment Volume that has also increased by 4200% in the last 5 months.

Oui Capital’s second fund, called the Oui Capital Mentors Fund II, included investors such as Angur Nagpal’s Vibe Capital, D Global ventures, Boston-based One Way Ventures and Ground Squirrel Ventures. 

Individual and VC investors such as Brad Feld, Seth Levine and Ryan McIntyre of Foundry Group, Gbenga Oyebode, Tokunboh Ismael of Alitheia Capital, Idris Alubankudi, and Tosin Eniolorunda of TeamApt also participated.

Oui Capital was founded by Olu Oyinsan and Francesco Andreoli in 2019 when its $10 million debut fund was launched. 

So far, the firm has made 18 investments in African businesses including TeamApt, MVX, Akiba Digital, Duplo, Ndovu, Maad, Intelligra, Aifluence and Pharmacy Marts, among others, focused on sectors such as fintech, logistics & mobility, e-commerce, healthcare, and enterprise software. 

These startups are based in countries like Nigeria, Kenya, Senegal, Egypt, and South Africa, but the firm plans to make more investments in North Africa and Francophone Africa.

The first close of the $30 million fund, which is targeted at pre-seed and seed stage businesses, currently stands at a little over $11 million with expectations of completing the final close by the fourth quarter of 2022.

Beyond funds, Oui Capital provides extensive support for these startups by stimulating partnerships, enhancing sales, facilitating hires and providing bridge investments. The firm asserts to have provided follow-on capital for 20% of its portfolio companies.

With the new fund, Oui Capital seeks to invest up to $750,000 and also make follow-on investments — this is 10 times more than the cheque size of its first fund. The firm also aims to lead more deals across the ecosystem, going beyond its targeted goals and doubling down on these with the new fund.