FUNDING | Nigerian Fintech, JuicyWay, Raises $3 Million to Provide FX Exchange Using Stablecoins

JuicyWay, a Nigerian cross-border payments startup that assists businesses in obtaining foreign exchange for international transactions, has secured $3 million in pre-seed funding.

The company plans to use the funds to grow its marketing and business development teams, enhance its technology, and scale operations in Nigeria, the U.S, the UK, and Canada.

The funding round was led by:

* P1 Ventures

with participation from:

• Ventures Platform
• Future Africa
• Magic Fund
• Microtraction

and angel investors:

• Andrew Alli
• Gbenga Oyebode, and
• Tunde Folawiyo

Founded in 2021 by Ife Johnson and Justin Ziegler, Juicyway is a marketplace that enables businesses and individuals to exchange local currency for dollars and vice versa. The platform caters to both:

• Suppliers – businesses providing foreign currencies like USD or CAD, and
• Buyers – businesses seeking to purchase these currencies for outbound transfers

The startup generates revenue through transaction fees and spreads on transactions conducted on its platform.

“Businesses come to us for two reasons; the first type of business wants to take local currency, convert it to U.S dollars, and make international payments via [our] banking partners [demand side].

The second type of businesses want to leverage the accounts we provide to bring money into the continent and convert it into local currency to make disbursements [supply side],” said Ife Johnson, Juicyway Co-Founder and CEO.

Juicyway enables businesses to make cross-border payments using stablecoins such as Tether (USDT) and USDC, positioning itself as a hybrid decentralized finance (DeFi) and traditional finance (TradFi) payments startup. Upon onboarding, businesses can opt to open wallets in U.S Dollars (USD), Canadian Dollars (CAD), or stablecoins.

Juicyway has been operating in stealth mode since November 2021, when it processed its first $9 payment. Since then, it claims to have handled a total payment volume (TPV) of $1.3 billion – an important metric that Juicyway considers its North Star – across more than 4,000 customers.

The startup operates in four markets:

• Nigeria
• The UK
• The U.S, and
• Canada

Juicyway holds licenses in each of these markets, including:

• International Money Transfer Operator (IMTO) license in Nigeria
• Money Services Business (MSB) license in Canada, and
• Authorised Payment Institution (API) license in the UK.
• In the US, it partners with banks and has received phase 1 payments approval in Washington DC.