HoneyCoin, a Nairobi-based fintech startup, this week raised $4.9mn in seed funding to expand its stablecoin-powered payment rails into new African, Latin American, and Asian markets.

The round was led by Flourish Ventures, with participation from TLcom Capital, Stellar Development Foundation, Lava, Musha Ventures, 4DX Ventures, Antler, and Visa Ventures, the investment arm of Visa Inc.

The seed funding brings HoneyCoin’s total capital raised to just over $5mn, including previous backing from Flourish Ventures in 2021 and 2022, according to Crunchbase. The startup processes $150mn in monthly transactions, with B2B volumes growing 16% month-on-month and consumer activity via its Peer app growing 5% monthly.

HoneyCoin, founded in 2020 by David Nandwa when he was only 19, provides a blockchain-based financial infrastructure connecting banks, mobile money networks, and global payment partners. The platform allows businesses to settle cross-border payments in hours instead of days at lower costs, serving 350 enterprise clients and 326,000 consumers.

By combining blockchain with traditional financial systems, HoneyCoin enables near-instant settlements and reduced transaction fees. Visa Ventures’ participation underscores growing institutional confidence in regulated digital assets.

“Our mission is to build the operating system for money; how it’s moved, held, and collected, regardless of medium or geography—just like Apple redefined computing,” Nandwa said.

The funding will support new product launches in Q3 2025, including a stablecoin-backed debit card with Visa, a cross-border liquidity solution for African corporates with Interswitch, banking-as-a-service offerings in Ghana, Malawi, and Tanzania, and a software POS solution for East Africa.

HoneyCoin holds Money Service Business (MSB) and Payment Service Solutions Provider (PSSP) licences in Canada, a virtual asset service provider licence in Europe, and MSB approval in the US. In Africa, it has Letters of No Objection from regulators in Kenya, Nigeria, and Tanzania, and partnerships with mobile network operators and payment service providers.

The company’s expansion reflects a wider trend in global fintech: using blockchain and stablecoins to address inefficiencies in cross-border payments. Africa’s cross-border payments sector is significant, with remittance flows alone exceeding $100bn annually according to the World Bank data.