HoneyCoin secures $4.9M in seed funding for stablecoin-focused payment platform

HoneyCoin, a Nairobi-based payment infrastructure company, has raised $4.9 million in seed funding to expand its stablecoin-compatible payment orchestration platform across African and global markets.

The round was led by Flourish Ventures, with participation from Visa Ventures, TLcom Capital, Stellar Development Foundation, and several other investors.

The details

• In a press release, the company announced that the new capital will be used to accelerate HoneyCoin’s scaling plans, expand its product suite, hire senior talent and strengthen compliance and licensing capabilities as it grows across markets.
• HoneyCoin operates across 45 countries with PCI-DSS Level 1 certification, enabling businesses to process mobile money, card, and bank payments across 15 African markets as well as the US, Canada, Europe, and the United Kingdom.
• The company claims to offer same-day or instant settlements versus traditional 4-7 business day processing times by utilizing stablecoin-based liquidity systems.
• Current enterprise clients include Cedar Money, TerraPay, and Nigerian e-commerce platform Jiji, though the company has not disclosed specific transaction volumes by client.
• HoneyCoin holds licenses in the US, Canada, EU, and unspecified African jurisdictions, with direct integrations to banks and telecom operators, including partnerships with MoneyGram, UBA Bank, and Stripe.

Key quote

HoneyCoin Founder and CEO David Nandwa said:

“Our mission is to build the operating system for money, how it's moved, held, and collected, regardless of medium or geography. Just as Apple redefined computing and Visa transformed global commerce, we believe financial infrastructure is undergoing another once-in-a-generation shift.”

Zoom out

• The funding comes as major payment processors globally are integrating blockchain technology, with traditional players like Visa and Western Union expanding crypto-enabled services in emerging markets.
• Flourish Ventures previously backed HoneyCoin in 2021, making this a follow-on investment from the firm, which focuses on financial inclusion across emerging markets.
• The involvement of Visa Ventures signals traditional payment giants' growing interest in blockchain-enabled infrastructure, as Visa and Mastercard have made similar investments in stablecoin and crypto companies, including Moonpay and Yellow Card.