African fintech startup, Yellow Card, has successfully raised $33 million in a Series C funding round, led by Blockchain Capital. Other notable investors participating in this round include Polychain Capital, Third Prime Ventures, Castle Island Ventures, Block, Inc., Galaxy Ventures, Blockchain Coinvestors, Hutt Capital, and Winklevoss Capital.
This funding brings Yellow Card’s total investment to $88 million. In previous rounds, the startup raised $15 million in Series A funding in 2021 and $40 million in a Series B round in 2023.
What’s the Funding For?
Yellow Card plans to use this new capital to drive its growth and expansion across Africa, focusing particularly on enhancing its API and widget products. These tools are essential for international businesses like Coinbase and Block to enter African markets, as well as for Pan-African companies looking to handle international payments and treasury management using stablecoins more easily.
In addition to improving its product offerings, Yellow Card is developing new, innovative solutions for the continent. The company is also focused on strengthening its team, improving internal systems, and continuing to engage with regulators across Africa to ensure compliance and stability in the rapidly growing crypto space.
Partnerships and Growth
In January 2024, Yellow Card partnered with Coinbase, a U.S.-based cryptocurrency exchange, to provide greater access to USDC and other digital assets in 20 African countries. This collaboration allows users of Coinbase Wallet in Africa to make payments in their local currencies using local bank transfers and mobile money, offering a more streamlined experience and a simplified Know Your Customer (KYC) process.
Since its founding in Nigeria in 2019, Yellow Card has rapidly expanded, now operating in 20 countries and processing over $3 billion in transactions. The company is also recognized as the first licensed Stablecoin on-ramp/off-ramp in Africa, providing businesses with secure and cost-effective ways to buy and sell stablecoins like USDT, USDC, and PYUSD through local currency payments and its Payments API.
In 2022, Yellow Card became the first cryptocurrency company in Africa to be granted a Virtual Asset Service Provider (VASP) license in Botswana. The following year, in 2023, they partnered with Block, the U.S. fintech company behind Cash App and Square, to facilitate cross-border payments across 16 African countries, including Nigeria, Ghana, and South Africa.
Challenges in the African Crypto Market
While Yellow Card continues to grow, not all cryptocurrency platforms in Africa have had the same success. Paxful, a U.S.-based crypto exchange with a significant presence in Africa, recently shut down its operations, and Mara had to rebrand to Jara due to financial difficulties.
This new funding round also comes at a time when African countries, particularly South Africa and Nigeria, are increasingly working to regulate the cryptocurrency sector. As the regulatory landscape evolves, Yellow Card remains at the forefront, navigating these changes while continuing to innovate in the African fintech space.
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