Payday, a Nigerian fintech startup, has raised $1 million in pre-seed funding to build out what they believe will be the “PayPal” for Africa.
The round had participation from several investors including LofyInc, Microtraction, Magic Fund, Ventures Platform, Voltron Capital, CcHub Syndicate, Helicarrier Inc, Greencap Equity, Midlothian Angel Network, Emergence Capital, Olugbenga Agboola (GB), Charles Odita, Eke Eleanya, Adegoke Olubusi, Edmund Olotu (Bloc), Prosper Otemuyiwa (Eden), Dimeji Sofowora, Perseus Mlambo (Union54), Abdul Hassan (Mono), Onyekachukwu Somtochukwu Eyisi, and a host of other investors.
Payday is a platform created to provide swift payments for Africans across the globe. The company wants to be the one-stop-shop for anyone looking to move money freely within and beyond Africa.
Payday was founded in May 2021 by Nigeria’s Favour Ori and kicked off its beta test in June 2021 with a cold launch in July. Within three weeks of launch, the platform successfully processed over $1.4 million in transactions.
Payday’s product offerings include sending and receiving money globally, getting paid by foreign employers and clients, issuing Virtual Mastercards, and paying tuition and other fees in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom.
Payday is also used by foreign businesses such as TalentQL (TechStars), Tupelo, and a slew of others to pay their employees in Africa for a variety of services such as payroll, taxes, and compliance. The platform is available for download on the Play & App stores
Ntoudi Mouyelo-K, the Chief Investment Officer (CIO) of Rwanda Finance Limited, the agency in charge of the promotion and development of Kigali International Financial Center (KIFC) welcomed the establishment of Payday in Rwanda.
“Payday’s continental ambition will benefit from KIFC premier Pan-African financial network. The number of African and international investors supporting Payday is a recognition of Mr Ori’s innovative solution developed from Rwanda and it illustrates the attractiveness of Kigali International Financial Center as a new home for fintech in Africa.”
Bosun Tijani, co-founder and CEO, Co-Creation Hub said: “Payday’s solution is extremely timely and it backs up Africa’s agenda of a single market. Making it seamless and easy to pay people in their local currency; and through multiple checkout options it’s a strong boost for AfCFTA.”
Temi Awogboro, General Partner at MAGIC Fund said: “Magic is delighted to be an early backer of Favour and the Payday team in achieving their audacious vision of enabling swift borderless online payments services for Africa, thereby connecting its users with vast opportunities around the world. This aligns with our founders-backing-founders thesis and we are excited by the opportunity to support the team as they positively disrupt the space.”
Sunil Sharma, Managing Director of Techstars Toronto said: “Africa is home to some of the most talented and ambitious entrepreneurs we see in the world today, and they are solving problems for one of the biggest markets on the planet. Sending money remains complicated, time-consuming and expensive but we believe Payday Africa has the vision to liberate Africans and the global diaspora to send and receive money quickly and affordably.”
Kola Aina, General Partner, Ventures Platform said: “We are thrilled to partner with Payday as they seek to ease the difficulty with moving money around Africa and across the world; this is even more critical as remote work opportunities continue to grow for young Africans.”
