Nairobi – Kenyan fintech startup HoneyCoin has secured $4.9 million in seed funding to accelerate the expansion of its stablecoin-powered cross-border payment infrastructure into Africa, Latin America, and Asia. The round was led by Flourish Ventures with participation from TLcom Capital, Stellar Development Foundation, Lava, Musha Ventures, 4DX Ventures, Antler, and Visa Ventures.
The Nairobi-based firm is positioning itself at the center of Africa’s $329 billion cross-border payments market, where settlement times often stretch to days and fees remain prohibitively high. HoneyCoin’s model leverages blockchain and stablecoin rails to link directly with banks, mobile money operators, and global partners, reducing settlement times to hours at a fraction of the cost.
CEO and founder David Nandwa said the company’s ambition is to redefine global financial infrastructure. “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,” Nandwa remarked. “This raise enables us to lead that transformation.”
Founded in 2020, HoneyCoin claims to process $150 million in monthly transaction volume, servicing 350 enterprise clients and more than 326,000 direct consumers. It reports profitability for the past two years, deriving most revenue from enterprise settlement services with clients paying as much as $2,500 monthly to integrate its APIs.
The company’s stablecoin-backed AI Matching Engine and global colocation banking network are designed to ensure near-instant to same-day settlements. HoneyCoin holds licences in North America and Europe, and has regulatory endorsements from multiple African markets including Nigeria, Kenya, and Tanzania.
With the new capital, HoneyCoin plans to expand into Mozambique, Zambia, Rwanda, Francophone Africa, as well as key Latin American and Asian markets. Product rollouts in 2025 include a stablecoin-backed debit card with Visa, a cross-border liquidity solution with Interswitch, a banking-as-a-service platform in select African states, and a POS solution targeting East Africa.
Investors argue HoneyCoin could cement itself as the core settlement infrastructure across B2B flows in Africa and beyond. “The capital will strengthen core infrastructure, deepen bank and regulator relationships, and add senior talent to serve larger enterprise clients,” said Efayomi Carr of Flourish Ventures.
HoneyCoin will face competition from both global and regional fintech players such as VertoFX, Nala, Yellow Card, and Cellulant. Yet its backers believe that its profitability, regulatory posture, and infrastructure-first approach position it to lead Africa’s evolving cross-border payments landscape.
