Payday team

Pan-African neobank Payday has secured a $3 million seed round funding, led by Moniepoint Inc, with participation from HoaQ, DFS Lab’s Stellar Africa Fund, and Ingressive Capital Fund II.

Angel investors Dare Okoudjou, founder and CEO, MFS Africa, and Tola Onayemi, CEO, Norebase, also participated in the funding round.

They now join follow-on investors Techstars, Angels Touch, Ingressive Capital & Now Venture Partners. Along with existing investors Ethos VC, MAGIC Fund, Ventures Platform, Voltron Capital, and others.

The fresh capital announced yesterday brings Payday’s total investment to date to $5.1 million, following a $2 million pre-seed round in 2021.

In a statement, the company said, in an oversubscribed round, the new capital raised will be deployed to secure operational licensing in the United Kingdom and Canada, while building out operations in the United Kingdom, where the company has recently been incorporated.

Launched in June 2021,Payday is the first Rwandan company to join Techstars, one of the largest pre-seed investors in the world .

Payday was developed to support African remote workers, freelancers and digital professionals with frictionless, borderless payments, enabling global payment processing from over 130 countries.

The startup permits those on the continent and in the diaspora, to send and receive money in US dollars, euros, and British pounds, along with 20 other currencies. This allows Africans to work remotely for international organisations, and be paid in the currency of their choice, regardless of location.

Currently operational in Nigeria, Rwanda and the UK, Payday offers virtual cards from Visa and MasterCard to its more than 330 000 users. These virtual cards can be quickly generated using the Payday App.

Commenting on the fundraise, Favour Ori, CEO and founder, Payday said, “We're thrilled that this round of funding will lay the foundation for the continued growth of our platform as we expand our services to a wider audience.

“This investment represents a significant milestone for our company and we’re grateful for the trust and commitment shown by our investors, both existing and new.

“We’re amped to scale our platform and reach more Africans, not only on the continent, but around the world. Our passion for empowering individuals and businesses with convenient and secure payment solutions is tangible, and we believe that this funding will allow us to do so on an even greater scale.

“Our goal remains the same: to make it easy and accessible for anyone to access their payments when on the continent, and with this new funding, we are one step closer to achieving that vision.”

Tosin Eniolorunda, CEO, Moniepoint Inc, commented: “We’re excited about the unique things Favour and the team are doing with Payday. Personally, I connect deeply with his drive, technical depth, and desire to execute. The urge to encourage that fire inspired us to want to be a part of this.

“More important is the alignment in our goal to provide financial happiness by addressing key payment pain points - Moniepoint with merchants and Payday with individuals. We see a potential to leverage their infrastructure to further deepen our suite of financial services for merchants, and we’re looking forward to all that's to come.”

Sunil Sharma, MD, Techstars Toronto, added: “A word that best describes Favour Ori is relentless. I was struck by his personal story which took him from Nigeria to the US for his computer science degree and some valuable early work experience, then to Rwanda to establish a team, then to the UK and back to the US in pursuit of growth. Favour is always in search of opportunity and nothing can get in his way.”