Till a couple of years in the past, it was once tough to make funds throughout borders nearly anyplace on the earth. However it’s nonetheless a giant drawback in Africa, the place fragmented, disconnected programs, excessive charges, and poor infrastructure make it powerful for companies and people to maneuver cash rapidly and affordably.
The vast majority of folks and companies nonetheless depend on outdated agent networks or grapple with cellular pockets integrations. However there’s tangible demand for cheaper and simpler alternate options, significantly in underserved areas like Francophone Africa.
Ivorian fintech Cauridor is getting down to resolve that, and it not too long ago raised $3.5 million in seed funding to proceed constructing its cost rails that allow retailers, banks, telecom operators, and cash switch firms transfer funds out and in of Africa.
Cauridor says its platform helps cellular wallets, financial institution transfers, and money pickups by means of a community of greater than 25,000 brokers throughout Guinea, Senegal, Ivory Coast, Sierra Leone and Liberia. These brokers are a part of a preferred distribution methodology within the area — they’re normally small enterprise homeowners geared up with point-of-sale (POS) units and allow money deposits, withdrawals and invoice funds.
Cauridor is adopting a hybrid method to fixing the cash switch drawback — the identical method different fintechs within the area mix money networks with digital infrastructure for native cost wants. Nonetheless, the method has enabled it to function remittance corridors to key markets like Ghana and Nigeria, and set up group-level contracts with main gamers equivalent to Ria, MoneyGram, and Western Union, alongside partnerships with Orange and MTN.
From remittance to B2B funds
Cauridor’s founders Oumar Rafiou Barry and Abdoulaye Bah skilled first-hand the challenges of sending a refund residence to Guinea when finding out in Canada. They confronted sluggish, costly remittance choices in Francophone Africa, a area lengthy underserved by the worldwide remittance business.
In 2019, this frustration drove them to start out BNB CashApp, a consumer-focused remittance platform for customers in Canada to ship cash to Africa. The app built-in immediately with banks, cellular wallets like MTN, and an agent community geared up with a cellular portal to facilitate money payouts.
However because the platform grew, the founders encountered a bigger problem: Africa’s fragmented and inefficient cost infrastructure. “We realized early on that the rails in Francophone Africa had been nearly non-existent. So we needed to go in and begin constructing cost rails within the area because the funds there have been fragmented,” CEO Barry instructed TechCrunch.
Sensing a chance, the staff pivoted in 2022 to construct cost rails for the area. By 2023, the corporate had merged its client remittance enterprise and B2B cost infrastructure below the Cauridor model, very similar to Tanzania’s Nala and Rafiki’s operational mannequin.
The shift paid off: Over 90% of the corporate’s income now comes from its cost rails enterprise. In 2023, Cauridor processed 2 million transactions and recorded whole cost quantity (TPV) of $300 million, which grew to $500 million in 2024, the corporate mentioned.
Competitors and future plans
Whereas Barry references extra outstanding gamers like Onafriq and Thunes as Cauridor’s essential competitors, he says his firm has remained related as a result of it constructed cost rails in markets “nobody was ,” like Guinea and Liberia.
He famous that hands-on customer support and pricing have additionally helped it retain prospects. The fintech supplies customer support to resolve widespread points like rejected cellular cash transactions resulting from incomplete KYC. For instance, if a recipient can solely obtain $10 out of a $700 cost, Cauridor steps in to assist improve their account and make sure the transaction goes by means of.
Barry thinks Cauridor’s sturdy native presence offers it an edge in securing higher foreign exchange margins, which it passes on to its prospects. He mentioned this benefit has helped the corporate appeal to main shoppers like MoneyGram, which switched from rivals for higher charges and improved buyer assist.
Curiously, competitors within the cross-border funds house doesn’t rule out collaboration. A few of Cauridor’s rivals depend on its infrastructure in particular areas, simply because it companions with firms like Thunes for a worldwide attain.
Cauridor employs about 200 folks globally and has workplaces in Ivory Coast, Senegal, Guinea, Sierra Leone, and Liberia.
The seed spherical was led by pan-African VC agency Oui Capital, and noticed participation from Rally Cap, BKR Capital, and a few angel traders.
With the recent money, the corporate plans to develop into new markets (it has new workplaces in Mali and Nigeria opening this yr), flesh out its groups, and increase advertising efforts. Barry instructed TechCrunch that Cauridor can be making ready for a Collection A spherical and exploring blockchain integration to streamline settlements and faucet into the rising adoption of stablecoins in Africa’s cross-border cost house.
