Juicyway, a Nigerian payment startup has come out of stealth and announced a $3M pre-seed round to transform cross-border payments connecting people and businesses to the global economy.
The round was led by P1 Ventures, with participation from Ventures Platform, Future Africa, Magic Fund, Andrew Alli, Gbenga Oyebode, Tunde Folawiyo, Microtraction, and others.
According to Ife Johnson Co-Founder and CEO of Juicyway, Africa contributes less than 1% to the $5 trillion global currency market, partly because there’s no liquidity for intra-African currency pairs. The old systems weren’t built to support this.
“Over the next three years, we want to be the platform where Nigerians and eventually the whole of Africa, and those doing business on the continent can easily convert African currencies to local ones and back,” said Johnson. “Our ultimate goal is to unlock liquidity for African currency pairs that currently have none. Stablecoin technology and our network model make this vision achievable by enabling fast and efficient money movement. Without it, we’d still be in pursuit of this goal, but it would be far harder to achieve.”
Founded in 2021 by Ife Johnson and Justin Ziegler, Juicyway enables individuals and businesses to send, receive, and process payments globally. The platform supports fiat currencies like the Nigerian Naira (NGN), US Dollar (USD), and Canadian Dollar (CAD), as well as cryptocurrency transactions. Juicyway facilitates remittances and provides access to FX through various payment channels. It offers multicurrency accounts and access to a liquidity pool for local and international payments at competitive rates.
Licensed in Nigeria, Canada, the USA, and the UK, Juicyway has processed $1.3 billion across 25,000 transactions, and 4,000 customers and serves prominent brands like Bolt, IHS, Piggyvest, Mocoh SA, Bamboo, and Afriex, the company also partners with Access Bank for remittance services.
Juicyway leverages stablecoin technology to enable fast, affordable global money transfers with 24/7 execution and settlement. Through its web and mobile apps and APIs, Juicyway simplifies money movement while ensuring market-driven pricing. By displaying real-time rates based on what other users are willing to pay, the platform creates a liquid ecosystem, lowers remittance costs, and empowers users to trade confidently, allowing greater financial inclusion.
Juicyway’s payment platform features include cross-border payments, funds repatriation, treasury management, payment processing and spend management.
The funding will drive Juicyway’s growth by supporting team expansion, technological advancements, and entry into new markets. The round includes the addition of Joshua Wasserman, a compliance and regulatory expert with experience at the U.S. Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and a key leader in building compliance for Cash App. Juicyway also welcomes Idris Ibrahim, CRO of Juicyway, Ridwan Otun, formerly with Bamboo and Smart Pension, and Ukeoma Chukundah, ex-Klarna and Deimos, as key members of its engineering team.
In 2023, Africa received an estimated $90.2 billion in remittances, accounting for 5.2% of GDP and nearly double the amount of overseas aid. These funds are a vital lifeline for millions of families and businesses. Juicyway is dedicated to making money transfers easier, faster, and more affordable.
Commenting on the fundraise, Justin Ziegler Co-Founder and COO of Juicyway stated, “Juicyway’s goal is to build uninterrupted, cost-effective cross-border infrastructure that enables Africa to participate in the global economy on equal footing. Our growth in a short period of time reflects the underlying demand for better global payments. We’re proud to offer a solution that eliminates the need for businesses and individuals to juggle multiple platforms to manage their financial needs. This investment represents a milestone for our company, and we are grateful for the trust and commitment from our investors”.
