The crypto space in Africa may be up for a major overhaul as crypto startup Yellow Card has increased its funding to $88 million after raising $33 million in a Series C funding round led by Blockchain Capital.
Yellow Card was launched in Nigeria in 2019. From its initial start as a retail-focused crypto exchange, it has transformed into a business-oriented stablecoin on/off ramp platform since its launch. The success of this African crypto startup shows how fast the continent’s digital asset landscape is changing.
The $33 million funding has come just in time when the African crypto space, especially blockchains is reeling under economic pressures and regulatory issues.
Two years ago the African crypto startup changed course to target business customers. This happened when Yellow Card was at the $40 million Series B funding round. This strategic shift was driven by the realization that businesses, rather than individual retail users, were the primary beneficiaries of its technology.
The company eliminated the high costs of handling retail users by catering to businesses that paid high gas fees for larger volumes of transactions. The African crypto startup provided stablecoin access and treasury management to businesses, revealed CEO Chris Maurice.
All these strategic changes led to Yellow Card serving 30,000 in Africa and around the world which will further enhance after this round of funding it got. The crypto startup’s approach of offering personal and business use of crypto assets attracts both small traders and big corporations. Its stablecoin payment features help companies to enhance their business efficiency.
This is crucial for Sub-Saharan Africa especially Kenya, Ethiopia, Nigeria and South Africa which accounts where crypto adoption, especially Stablecoins usage is relatively high as it facilitates cross-border trade and international payments and offers a hedge against inflation and currency devaluation.
Although Sub-Saharan Africa makes up less than 3% of global crypto transactions, companies like Yellow Card’s funding can further boost it. The African crypto startup's transaction volumes have surged from $1.7 billion in early 2023 to over $3 billion, with revenue increasing sevenfold since January 2023. This growth is primarily driven by the utility of stablecoins in solving real-world problems for businesses and individuals in Africa.
The company's plan to improve its API suite and other features will get a boost after this funding, making stablecoins more accessible to Africans.