Waza, a B2B payment and liquidity provider backed by Y Combinator, has raised $8 million in equity and debt funding. The funds will help the company expand beyond its current operations in Ghana and Nigeria and introduce new trade finance solutions.
The funding includes a $3 million seed equity round from investors such as Y Combinator, Byld Ventures, Norrsken Africa, Heirloom VC, Plug and Play Tech Center, and Olive Tree Capital, and $5 million in debt funding from Timon Capital to pilot trade financing for large enterprise clients.
Maxwell Obi, CEO and co-founder of Waza, said this development moves the startup closer to revolutionizing B2B payments and liquidity access for businesses across Africa. “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,” he added.
This comes amid rising demand for cross-border payments due to increasing remittance flows and global trade. The Bank of England forecasts that the cross-border payments market will exceed $250 trillion by 2027.
Founded by Maxwell Obi, a two-time founder, and Emmanuel Igbodudu, a senior software engineer, Waza operates as a money services business in the US and is licensed as a virtual asset service provider. It offers a platform that simplifies global supplier payments for emerging market businesses.
Since starting in stealth mode in January 2023 after joining Y Combinator’s Winter 23 batch, Waza has served hundreds of businesses, processed over $700 million in annual payments, and achieved a 20% monthly growth rate. The company reached profitability in the fourth quarter of 2023 and has maintained it into 2024. In January 2023, Waza secured $1.2 million in pre-seed funding to build its payment infrastructure.
