Crypto startup Yellow Card announced the successful close of its Series C funding, raising $33 million.

The round was led by Blockchain Capital and supported by prominent investors including Polychain Capital, Third Prime Ventures, Castle Island Ventures, Block, Inc., Galaxy Ventures, Blockchain Coinvestors, Hutt Capital and Winklevoss Capital.

This new funding brings Yellow Card’s total equity funding to $85 million and marks a significant milestone in the company’s journey and the African fintech industry.

Powering digital assets in Africa

Chris Maurice, CEO and co-founder of Yellow Card highlighted the importance of this latest fundraiser, saying:

“This fundraising not only demonstrates our resilience, but also highlights the vital role of digital assets for businesses across Africa.

“We are excited about the opportunities, partnerships and journey ahead, and I am proud to work with an incredible cohort of investors who share our vision for the industry and the continent.

• Since its inception in Nigeria in 2019, Yellow Card has become a pioneer in the crypto space in Africa.

• The company operates in 20 countries across the continent and has facilitated over $3 billion in transactions.

• With this new capital, Yellow Card plans to accelerate its growth and expansion efforts, focusing on improving its API and widget products, which serve as gateways for international companies, such as Coinbase and Block, to access to African markets.

• In addition to enhancing its product offering, the company said the funds will support the development of innovative solutions for Africa, strengthening its team and continuing its engagement with regulators across the continent.

• Commenting on the fundraising, Blockchain Capital General Partner Aleks Larsen expressed confidence in Yellow Card’s mission.

“The future of payments lies in fast, affordable rail services for everyone, powered by open networks. We couldn’t be more excited to support Yellow Card as they set Africa up with stablecoins,” he said.

What you need to know

Yellow Card’s latest fundraising highlights the growing importance of stablecoins across the continent and their potential for global applications.

While sub-Saharan Africa lags behind the rest of the world in crypto volume, accounting for less than 3% of total transactions made between July 2023 and 2024, the region has more crypto use cases practical and convincing than the West. Nigeria, for example, has the second highest crypto adoption rate in the world; Ethiopia, Kenya and South Africa are in the top 30, according to a recent report from Chainalysis.

Stablecoins, in particular, have become the utility center of Africa’s crypto economy, as most African countries have highly volatile local currencies and limited access to the US dollar.

This is pushing many Africans to store value by protecting themselves against inflation and currency devaluation with dollar-pegged stablecoins, such as USDT and USDC.

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