Grey raises $2M to simplify cross-border payments across Africa
In addition to the $2 million seed, Grey has also expanded into East Africa, starting with Kenya.
Grey, a Nigerian-based fintech has raised $2 million in seed funding to simply cross-border payments across Africa.
Founded in 2020, Grey provides foreign (USD, EUR, GBP) accounts for Africans. With these foreign accounts, users can receive their salaries or any other payment from foreign companies or from individuals abroad. They can also hold their savings in foreign currency (e.g USD) or convert them to their local currency.
Grey claims to have about 100,000 individual users, and since the beginning of the year, its transaction volumes have increased by 200%. Grey's co-founder and COO, Femi Aghedo said the company privately launched a business-focused product, Grey Business, to complement this consumer-facing growth and extend its product beyond remittances and person-to-person payments
Formerly known as Aboki Africa, Grey secured an undisclosed amount in a pre-seed round led by Mono's CEO, Abdul Hassan, alongside Niche Capital Limited, Ingressive Capital in 2021, the fintech also participated in the Y Combinator 2022 Winter batch.
In addition to the $2 million seed, Grey has also expanded into East Africa, starting with Kenya via partnerships with payments giant Cellulant and ed-tech leader Moringa. The company plans to expand into more East African countries in the coming months. It has included support for Ugandan Shillings on the app, bringing the total number of supported currencies to six. This addition means that Grey customers in Nigeria and Kenya can send money to mobile money accounts in Uganda.
"Sending money worldwide is not just an individual problem; it affects African businesses too. Over the last two months, we’ve onboarded several African businesses to our private beta. Honestly, when I listen to the feedback about how much we’ve simplified a previously complex process, it pushes us to do more," Aghedo said.
The fintech also intends to extend its product suite to include not just remittances but also person-to-person and business-to-business payments so every African can enjoy seamless cross-border payments with low fees.
The seed funding round included participation from Y Combinator, Soma Capital, Heirloom Fund, True Culture Fund, angel investors Alan Rutledge, Samvit Ramadurgam, Karthik Ramakrishnan, and other high-profile investors.
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