Waza, a B2B Payment Platform for Emerging Markets, Secures $8 Million in Funding

Waza, a payment and liquidity platform focused on emerging markets, has raised $8 million in a combination of equity and debt funding to enhance how African businesses, traders, and large organizations manage and pay their global suppliers.

The $3 million seed equity round was backed by institutional and strategic investors including Y Combinator, Byld Ventures, Norrsken Africa, Heirloom VC, Plug and Play Tech Center, Olive Tree Capital, and others. The remaining $5 million in debt funding was secured from Timon Capital and will be used to pilot trade financing solutions for Waza’s large enterprise clients, tapping into Africa’s $371 billion trade finance market.

Waza was founded by Maxwell Obi, a co-founder of Nigerian fintech Amplify, and Emmanuel Igbodudu, a former senior engineer at Revolut. The company, which began its operations in stealth mode in January 2023 after joining YCombinator’s Winter 23 batch, has rapidly scaled, processing over $700 million in annualized payment volume across six continents. Waza achieved profitability in the fourth quarter of 2023 and continues to grow at a rate of 20% per month.

With this new funding, Waza plans to expand into additional markets beyond Ghana and Nigeria and introduce new trade finance products. Obi stated, “This funding brings us closer to our vision of transforming B2B payments and liquidity access for businesses across the continent. By providing a more efficient settlement infrastructure, we’re closing the foreign exchange and liquidity gap, empowering African businesses to access global trade opportunities that will drive economic growth in the markets we serve.”