Waza, a Nigerian Y Combinator-backed B2B payments startup, has announced the launch of Lync, a multi-currency account platform designed to power a new era of global trade for businesses in emerging markets.
This innovative solution, powered by a recent $8 million funding round, aims to empower businesses across the African continent to navigate global markets with greater ease and efficiency.
Starting with businesses in Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, South Africa, and other emerging markets, businesses with existing global operations and need to manage their treasury accounts can use Lync.
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With Lync, businesses can receive payments and make transactions in over 100 countries, supporting currencies such as USD, EUR, GBP, NGN, and stablecoins. Unlike competitors that use wallet-based systems, where transactions are processed under the company’s name instead of the customer’s, Lync offers complete banking access. This approach simplifies payment reconciliation for businesses, as funds are processed directly through their accounts.
Founded by Maxwell Obi and Emmanuel Igbodudu, Waza emerged from stealth mode in August 2024, with $8 million in funding to bolster global trade for African and emerging market businesses. The Bank of England predicts that the global cross-border payments market will surpass $250 trillion by 2027. Yet, emerging economies continue to grapple with trade deficits, where the demand for the dollar central to global trade outstrips supply.
In Africa, the situation is made worse by a lack of tech solutions assessing the liquidity needs of enterprises and multinationals. This is where Waza seeks to reshape B2B payments and liquidity access for businesses across the continent.
Recall that in July 2024, Mercury, a San Francisco digital bank that became the preferred banking partner for African startups after Silicon Valley Bank went under in March 2023, announced plans to close the accounts of users in thirteen African countries by August 22, 2024, which left them scrambling to find alternatives.
The San Francisco-based digital bank cited recent changes in how to determine account eligibility” as the reason for the closures.
It wrote via an email,
“Due to recent changes in how we determine account eligibility, we are no longer able to support accounts for businesses with associated addresses located in these countries”. Following the prohibitions, African startups incorporated in Delaware cannot open Mercury accounts unless the founders live in the U.S.”
The closure of Mercury accounts undoubtedly impacted Nigerian startups that were heavily reliant on dollar funding and international operations. This left many scrambling for alternatives. On the bright side, Mercury’s abandonment has put the spotlight on Waza which has been aggressively marketing its solutions.
The startup’s mission is to provide African businesses with a simple, secure, and affordable way to conduct B2B cross-border transactions, even in the absence of hard currencies like USD, EUR, and GBP.
At its core, the company believes that payments should be seamless and transparent. This spurred it to build a user-friendly and reliable platform, with vast liquidity to meet businesses’ global payment demands. Also, it offers users a safe and secure payments platform, following the implementation of military-grade security tools, designed to detect and prevent fraud, with real-time monitoring of transactions and other activities.
Waza is trusted by notable companies such as Flutterwave, Anchor, Paystack, Brass, Hellicarrier, and Sendme. The B2B payments startup which is akin to Mercury Bank for Africa, aims to leverage the $7 trillion global market, providing essential liquidity and payment solutions for businesses in Africa and beyond.