HoneyCoin raises $4.9M Seed to kill correspondent banking in Africa

HoneyCoin, a Kenya-based fintech, has raised $4.9 million to expand its stablecoin-powered payment platform.

Flourish Ventures led the round with participation from Visa Ventures, Lava, TLCom, Antler, Musha Ventures, 4DX Ventures, Stellar Development Foundation, James Waugh (Fire Eyes), & Vasily Shapovalov (Lido Co-Founder). This round brings HoneyCoin’s total funding to just over $5 million.

The company’s infrastructure links fiat and blockchain systems to facilitate instant payments, thereby bypassing the delays and costs associated with traditional correspondent banking systems. This is especially critical in frontier markets where dollar-clearing bottlenecks slow trade.

By combining collection, currency conversion, and settlement on a single platform, HoneyCoin provides businesses with a unified dashboard to manage their cash flows. HoneyCoin CEO and co-founder, David Nandwa, says, “HoneyCoin is one of the fastest-growing full-stack payment orchestration platforms for consumers and businesses. Today, we are processing over $150 million per month in volume, serving millions of end users and live in 45+ countries.”

Flourish Ventures, an early investor in the startup, returned for this round, citing founder David’s technical depth and regulatory foresight. “We first backed HoneyCoin in 2021 based on David’s technical expertise and regulatory vision,” said Efayomi Carr, Principal at Flourish Ventures. “Since then, he’s built a licensed, profitable, and high-growth infrastructure platform powering nearly 300 financial institutions and processing billions in transactions annually. This follow-on investment reflects our deep confidence in HoneyCoin’s results to date and potential to lead the next generation of compliant, blockchain-enabled finance across Africa.”

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Visa Ventures called HoneyCoin a practical example of how stablecoins can deliver speed and financial inclusion. “HoneyCoin is tackling real-world challenges in cross-border payments and financial access across Africa,” said Cuy Sheffield, Head of Crypto, Visa. “It’s a strong example of how stablecoins can unlock more efficient and inclusive payment solutions in emerging markets.”

Operating at this scale means navigating shifting regulations. In Nigeria, for example, a 2025 policy shift welcomed stablecoin companies, months after cracking down on crypto exchanges. HoneyCoin’s model relies on agility, with licenses in key markets and direct integrations with partners like MoneyGram, UBA, and Stripe.

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The startup already serves fintechs like TerraPay and Jiji and plans to grow its team, secure more licenses, and expand its API-first offering for developers and enterprises.

Beyond payments, HoneyCoin is positioning itself as the financial rails for Africa’s next digital economy boom, edging closer to becoming the “Stripe of Africa.”