Grey raises $2m to simplify cross-border payments across Africa

Grey, a Nigerian fintech company has raised $2 million in seed funding in a bid to simplify sending and receiving foreign payments for Africans

According to a press statement by the company, the service enables its customers to have virtual international bank accounts for free and enjoy a seamless foreign payment process.

“Grey was founded in 2021 to empower people to live a location-independent lifestyle. And I believe that the least of your worries as a freelancer, remote worker, or digital nomad should be sending or receiving payments, so we’ve made it easy,” Idorenyin Obong, the chief executive officer at Grey said.

“We like to say that we’re on a mission to make international payments as easy as sending an email. We want to do impactful work to improve how Africa as a continent interacts with money across its borders. I am delighted that we’ve acquired an extensive and fiercely loyal user base,” Obong further said.

Grey’s 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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According to Obong, with this new round of capital, they plan to launch into new markets and extend their 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.

In addition to the funding announcement, Grey also announced its expansion into East Africa, starting with Kenya, and partnerships with payments giant Cellulant and ed-tech leader Moringa.

“Travelling to Kenya is much easier with Grey because you can pay vendors directly to M-pesa. For example, suppose you’re a traveller on a trip to Nairobi. In that case, you can convert any supported currencies to Kenyan Shillings and pay for services directly to M-Pesa, or other mobile money accounts,” the company stated.

The company has also privately launched Grey Business to several companies.

“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,” Femi Aghedo, the chief operating officer at Grey said.