Kenyan fintech HoneyCoin has raised $4.9 million in seed funding to accelerate its expansion into Africa, Latin America, and Asia.
The company is doubling down on its vision to transform cross-border payments through stablecoin-powered infrastructure.
The funding round, led by Flourish Ventures with participation from Visa Ventures, TLcom Capital, Stellar Development Foundation, and other notable investors, positions the Nairobi-based startup to tackle the inefficiencies that plague Africa’s cross-border payments market.
HoneyCoin enables faster payments in hours
Founded in 2020 by David Nandwa, HoneyCoin has built a platform that integrates directly with banks, mobile money networks, and global payment providers.
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This enables transactions to settle within hours rather than the four-to-seven-day timelines often seen in traditional systems.
“Our mission is to build the operating system for money; how it’s moved, held, and collected, regardless of medium or geography—just like Apple redefined computing,” said Nandwa.
“This raise enables us to lead that transformation, across Africa and other global markets.”
The company’s approach centres on using stablecoins to power instant or same-day settlements, offering significant savings for businesses and individuals.
The company stated that its infrastructure processes $150 million in monthly transactions, serving over 350 enterprise clients and more than 326,000 direct consumers in over 45 countries.
They are already profitable, a milestone the platform has maintained for the past two years. Its revenue primarily comes from B2B settlement and acquiring services, with corporate clients paying up to $2,500 monthly for API integration.
The startup has built a strong regulatory foundation, holding Money Service Business and Payment Service Solutions Provider licences in Canada, a virtual asset service provider licence in Europe, and MSB approval in the US. In Africa, it has secured Letters of No Objection from regulators in Kenya, Nigeria, and Tanzania.
“HoneyCoin is tackling real-world challenges in cross-border payments and financial access across Africa,” said Cuy Sheffield, Head of Crypto at Visa.
“It’s a strong example of how stablecoins can unlock more efficient and inclusive payment solutions in emerging markets.”
The capital will focus more on African countries
The fresh capital will expand into Mozambique, Zambia, Rwanda, and Francophone Africa and deepen the company’s footprint in other global markets.
The plans to roll out new products in the coming year, including a Visa-backed stablecoin debit card, a cross-border liquidity solution for corporates in partnership with Interswitch, and a banking-as-a-service platform in Ghana, Malawi, and Tanzania.
According to Flourish Ventures Principal Efayomi Carr, the decision to reinvest in HoneyCoin was driven by the company’s consistent performance and regulatory foresight.
“Since 2021, David has built a licensed, profitable, and high-growth infrastructure platform powering nearly 300 financial institutions and processing billions in transactions annually,” Carr said.
“The capital will strengthen core infrastructure, deepen bank and regulator relationships, and add senior talent to serve larger enterprise clients.”
With settlement volumes growing 16 per cent month-on-month on the B2B side and 5 per cent monthly growth on its consumer-facing Peer app, HoneyCoin is positioning itself as a serious competitor to African and global fintechs such as VertoFX, Nala, Yellow Card, and Cellulant.