By Adedapo Adesanya
Nigerian startup, Grey, has raised $2 million in seed funding to enable its customers to have virtual international bank accounts for free and enjoy a seamless foreign payment process.
Grey’s seed funding round included participation from Y Combinator, Soma Capital, Heirloom Fund, True Culture Fund, angel investors including Mr Alan Rutledge, Mr Samvit Ramadurgam, Mr Karthik Ramakrishnan, and other high-profile investors.
On Grey, users can create a foreign US Dollar, Great Britain Pounds, and Euro bank account for free, send money to the UK and Europe, and receive payments from over 88 countries.
The company also offers conversion directly to your local currency so that you can spend it easily on the app and allows users to receive foreign payments in their preferred foreign currency and withdraw directly to mobile money or their local bank account.
In addition to the funding announcement, Grey also announced its expansion into East Africa, starting with Kenya, and partnerships with payments giant Cellulant and ed-tech leader Moringa.
According to the CEO, Mr Idorenyin Obong, with this new round of capital, they plan to launch into new markets and extend their product suite to include not just remittances but also person-to-person and business-to-business payments so every African can enjoy seamless cross-border payments with low fees.
The company plans to expand into more East African countries in the coming months. It has included support for Ugandan Shillings on the app, bringing the total number of supported currencies to six. This addition means that Grey customers in Nigeria and Kenya can send money to mobile money accounts in Uganda.
The company has also privately launched Grey Business to several companies.
He said, “Grey was founded in 2021 to empower people to live a location-independent lifestyle.
“I believe that the least of your worries as a freelancer, remote worker, or digital nomad should be sending or receiving payments, so we’ve made it easy. We like to say that we’re on a mission to make international payments as easy as sending an email.
“We want to do impactful work to improve how Africa as a continent interacts with money across its borders. I am delighted that we’ve acquired an extensive and fiercely loyal user base.”
The company’s Chief Operating Officer, Mr Femi Aghedo said, “Sending money worldwide is not just an individual problem; it affects African businesses too. Over the last two months, we’ve onboarded several African businesses to our private beta. Honestly, when I listen to the feedback about how much we’ve simplified a previously complex process, it pushes us to do more.”
Grey is licensed as a Money Service Business by FINTRAC in Canada and FinCEN in the USA. Aboki Africa Inc., a company duly incorporated under the laws of Delaware, USA, is the provider of Grey’s services.
Dipo Olowookere