Local fintech start-up Lumepay has raised $6 million (R98.6 million) in a pre-seed funding round backed by founder-led angels and South African fintech investors.
The Cape Town-founded B2B cross-border payment and digital asset platform provides institutional-grade payment rails, foreign exchange (FX) and multi-currency accounts for African businesses.
Lumepay announced yesterday that the pre-seed round closed earlier this year, alongside approximately $10 million (R164.4 million) in capital float.
According to the fintech firm, the capital was used to kick-start its vision and fund its market entry, and the remainder continues to power end-to-end solutions.
In April, Lumepay launched its digital asset and stablecoin trading venue Lumetrade.
It launched its cross-border payments platform for businesses across Africa in June and recently received regulatory clearance to operate in Kenya, which signalled its entry into the East African region, it reveals.
“The future of cross-border payments isn’t traditional finance or stablecoins; it’s a combination of both, backed by the FX depth to make them work for real businesses,” comments Harry Huang, CEO of Lumepay.
“Everything we design, build and operationalise is centred on one mission: to be the end-to-end solution African businesses trust to move money across borders reliably, at competitive pricing and with the service standards business clients expect.
“When businesses can move money reliably and cost-effectively, they stop managing constraints and start unlocking growth.”
Luc Varejes, chief operating officer of Lumepay, adds: “Africa’s moment is now, and our job is to make sure businesses can transact seamlessly and efficiently.
“In the months since the raise, we’ve turned plans into working products: diversified and reliable liquidity; a platform that handles cross-border payments end-to-end; a growing network of partners and payment rails; and regulatory clearance in South Africa and Kenya, together with licensed partners across Francophone West and Central Africa.
“The capital has given us the freedom to build, scale and execute on our vision, corridor by corridor, so that moving money across Africa becomes as simple as moving it in developed markets.”
Lumepay’s pre-seed raise joins other local fintech firms such as Jem and TurnStay, which have this year secured investment funding to scale operations and offerings.
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