Waza, a rising fintech company with operations in Ghana and Nigeria, has received $8 million to make it more easier for African businesses to pay worldwide vendors and suppliers.

Formed Just in January 2023, the Nigerian B2B payments platform and liquidity provider for emerging market businesses successfully closed a million-dollar funding deal that included debt and liquidity.

Timon Capital, a venture capital firm that supports exceptional digital founders in Sub-Saharan Africa, has committed $5 million in debt financing.

According to Finextra, a coalition of institutional and strategic investors, including Y Combinator, Byld Ventures, Norrsken Africa, Heirloom VC, Plug and Play Tech Center, and Olive Tree Capital, provided an additional $3 million in seed capital.

Waza's objective remains the same: to make business payments in Nigeria and other emerging countries seamless and easy, said the company..

Since its inception a year ago, Waza said it has served hundreds of firms in Nigeria and Ghana, processing over $700 million in annualised payment volume and facilitating payments to the United States, Singapore, China, Germany, the United Kingdom, South Africa, the United Arab Emirates, and several other countries on six continents.

Waza CEO and co-founder Maxwell Obi said this new funding will enable the company to expand into new markets and introduce innovative trade finance solutions that further empower African businesses to thrive globally.

“We are excited to announce this new funding that brings us closer to our vision of transforming B2B payments and access to liquidity for businesses across the continent. By providing a more efficient settlement infrastructure, we are bridging the foreign exchange and liquidity gap and empowering African businesses to access more global trade opportunities that will drive economic growth and development in the markets we serve. We’re thankful for the support and commitment of our investors and partners, who have been essential in the delivery of this mission,” said Obi.

Waza stated that it has expanded at a 20% monthly rate and attained profitability in the fourth quarter of 2023. It sought this additional capital to help it expand into other markets beyond its current operations in Ghana and Nigeria.

Chris Muscarella, managing director of Timon Capital is quoted saying, “The Waza team has deep experience around cross-border flows, and they are going after one of the bigger opportunities in frontier markets. We’re excited to finally have a chance to partner with Maxwell and the team.”.