QED leads $11 million investment in Nigeria’s Fintech Raenest

As the African high-tech ecosystem boom, more local talent has acquired remote jobs at major high-tech companies and global startups. But for many of these freelancers and remote workers, getting paid remains a challenge. They struggle to open accounts that accept US dollars as foreign employers are slowly facing billing and payment processes using incompatible payment platforms.

input Raenestone of the many local fintechs that intervened to fix this. The company raised $11 million for Series A funding led by QED investors to expand its reach across Africa.

Through retail products, gogpayLaunched in early 2022, Raenest offers Freelancers Virtual USD, GBP, and EUR accounts. These accounts will help you receive payments, manage your multi-currency wallet and convert your currency. Raenest also offers virtual and physical debit cards that accept multiple currencies, such as the US dollar.

Last March, Lagos-based Raenest expanded beyond freelancers Max for businessa platform that provides the same financial services to African companies, allowing you to send and receive international payments.

Growth beyond freelancers

Interestingly, Raenest didn’t start with freelancers in mind. Victor Alladewith co-founders Sodruldeen Mustapha and Richard Oyomelaunched the company in 2022 as Record Employer (EOR). It helped foreign companies pay their employees in Africa.

But a few months later, the founders realized that the real problem was not with companies sending payments but with individuals struggling to receive them.

“US companies may not care if payments are delayed five days. But for someone in Nigeria or Kenya, that’s a big deal. Especially converting to local currency is another hurdle When it comes, that’s a big deal,” CEO Alade, former software engineer at Jumia and Andela, told TechCrunch.

Also from his remote working experience, Alade and his co-founders brought experiences with African fintechs such as Lemfi and Fairmoney, focusing on addressing this issue.

Geegpay quickly gained traction among freelancers, but business sign-ups also began to rise. The team realized that African companies also need foreign accounts to streamline cross-border transactions. “Companies have begun asking if they can get a permanent bank account to simplify payments,” Alade added. “That’s when we started thinking. How big is this opportunity? Who else is building it for Africa?”

Adding business banking couldn’t come at a better time. US-based Fintech for roughly the same period Mercury has launched business account restrictions From several countries, including parts of Africa. This created a gap in the market and gave the opportunity to serve business customers to local fintechs like Raenest.

Meanwhile, EOR space is Deal began to look into the continent More closely.

These events were most dependent on what was considered better opportunities. It provides African businesses with a way to receive and send international payments.

Scaling to provide services to individuals and businesses

That bet is paying off. Since launching in 2022, Raenest has served freelancers and businesses across the continent, over $1 billion in payments (160% growth from 2023 to 2024). Today, over 700,000 individuals use the platform to receive payments from global platforms such as Upwork, Fiverr, and Gusto. It is also used for online shopping and subscriptions.

Meanwhile, more than 300 companies rely on Raenest to collect payments from international clients, raise capital from investors, and make cross-border payments. Its client list includes African startups such as Mony Point, Helium Health, Fez Delivery and Matta.

Raenest competes with several fintech startups that offer multi-currency accounts to their African customers. Afriex, Creva, gray, swapand Leather bag. Unlike most players who focus on one customer type, Alade argues that Raenest has an advantage as it targets individuals and businesses. Beyond that dual approach, Alade says, it prioritizes speed, security, reliability and compliance to keep users alive.

Raenest’s ambitions go beyond cross-border payments. “We want to create a safe and seamless financial ecosystem for Africans. We help them earn, invest and grow wealth no matter where they are in the world.” Arade suggests the launch of the next product:

Expansion plan

Currently, the 3-year-old FinTech operates in Nigeria under a remittance license. As part of its next stage of growth, the company aims to deepen its presence in Nigeria while securing a license for expansion to Egypt, Ghana, Kenya and the United States.

With bank partnerships in the US and UK, Raenest is working to ensure that more in more regions as these regions expand. Along the way, the company aims to attract top talent to support its expansion, even if it brings Geegpay and Raenest to the business under a single brand, Raenest.

In the latest $11 million Series A round, Raenest’s total funding is $14.3 million.

Lead Investor QED, one of the world’s top fintech VC companies, has steadily increased its African footprint since 2022. We support five startups that provide financial services on the continent. Mony Point, Treatment Health, price, Cedar Moneyand now raenest.

“We firmly believe that by filling the gap between local and global markets, Raenest unlocks new opportunities for African entrepreneurs, freelancers and businesses, ultimately promoting greater economic empowerment across the continent. ” QED Investor East.

Other investors in the round include early to growing VC companies in Pan-Africa, such as Norrsken22, Ventures Platform, P1 Ventures and SeedStars.