Nigerian fintech Raenest has raised $11M in Series A funding to expand its reach across Africa.
Led by QED Investors, the funding round also got participation from pan-African VC firms Norrsken22, Ventures Platform, P1 Ventures, and Seedstars.
The fintech startup will look to deepen its presence in Nigeria and secure licenses in Egypt, Ghana, Kenya, and the U.S.
What is Raenest
As Africa’s tech ecosystem continues to blossom, more people from the region are landing remote jobs with big tech firms and global startups. However, receiving payments remains an obstacle for many freelancers and remote workers.
They struggle to open accounts that accept U.S. dollars, face slow invoicing and payment processes, and it doesn’t help when their foreign employers use incompatible payment platforms.
Victor Alade, along with co-founders Sodruldeen Mustapha and Richard Oyome, launched Raenest 2022 as one of the many African fintech companies to address this problem.
Through its retail product, Geegpay, Raenest offers freelancers virtual USD, GBP, and EUR accounts to receive payments, manage multi-currency wallets, and convert currencies. It also provides virtual and physical debit cards that accept multiple currencies, such as U.S. dollars.
Although the startup started as an Employer of Record (EOR), helping foreign companies pay African employees in compliance with local norms, they quickly pivoted when they realized that the real issue was individuals struggling to receive payments from these companies.
Since launching in 2022, Raenest has processed over $1 billion in payments — a 160% increase over the past two years — to freelancers and businesses across Africa. Today, over 700,000 individuals use the platform to receive payments from global platforms like Upwork, Fiverr, and Gusto.
Raenest Profitable Pivot
As the organization gained traction with freelancers, business signups began to rise, too. The team realized African companies also needed foreign accounts to streamline cross-border transactions.
“Businesses started asking to get fixed bank accounts to simplify payments. That’s when we started thinking: How big is this opportunity? Who else is building for Africa?” Alade said.
In March 2024, the startup expanded its platform to help businesses streamline international remittance with a new brand, Raenest for Business. The addition of business banking couldn’t have come at a better time. Around this time, U.S.-based fintech Mercury started restricting business accounts from several countries, including parts of Africa.
Today, over 300 companies rely on Raenest to collect payments from international customers, raise capital from investors, and make cross-border payments. Its impressive enterprise clientele includes startups like Moniepoint, Helium Health, Fez Delivery, and Matta.
Expanding Operations Across Africa
Raenest currently operates in Nigeria under a money transfer license. As part of its growth plans, the company will deepen its presence in Nigeria and secure licenses in Egypt, Ghana, Kenya, and the U.S.
The company has banking partnerships in the U.S. and U.K. and is working to secure more in these regions as it scales. Along the way, it aims to attract talent to support its expansion by combining Geegpay and Raenest for Business under a single brand, Raenest. The Series A round brings Raenest’s total funding to $14.3 million.
Lead investor QED, one of the world’s top fintech VC firms, has steadily increased its footprint in Africa since 2022, and now, Raenest. “We firmly believe that by bridging the gap between local and global markets, Raenest will unlock new opportunities for African entrepreneurs, freelancers and businesses, ultimately driving greater economic empowerment across the continent,” said Gbenga Ajayi, partner and head of Africa and the Middle East at QED Investors.
Main Image: Raenest co-founders From L-R, Richard Oyome, Sodruldeen Mustapha and Victor Alade. Image credit: Raenest
