Nala豪赌：自建低成本支付通道，在非洲叫板西联汇款；获4000万美元A轮融资

做的是什么生意

Low-fee cross-border payments: a consumer app for sending money from the EU, UK and US to 11 African markets, plus Rafiki, its B2B payment rails for banks, payroll and remittance companies.

启动资金：US$10M seed (2022)

起因

Founded in 2017 by Benjamin Fernandes to move money within Tanzania; in 2021 he pivoted to remittances from the EU, UK and US into Africa, betting that lower fees and guaranteed delivery could take share from incumbents.

经过

Raised a $10M seed in 2022, then a $40M Series A in July 2024 led by Acrew Capital with DST Global, Norrsken22, HOF Capital, Amplo and NYCA, plus angels including Chime's Ryan King and Robinhood's Vlad Tenev; launched the B2B platform Rafiki in March 2024 with TransferGo and Cadana among early customers. The consumer app reached 249 banks and 26 mobile money services across 11 African markets, and Fernandes said Nala was already profitable and heading past 500,000 customers, with consumer revenue above 90% of total.

结果

In September 2025 Nala entered Kenya through Equity Bank and Pesalink instead of waiting for a direct Central Bank licence, targeting a remittance corridor that hit a record KSh 640 billion in 2024; it continues scaling and plans expansion into Asia and Latin America.

可借鉴之处

Nala直接挑战手续费，并自建支付通道；将支付瓶颈内包，把微薄的消费者利润转化成了基础设施产品。