Stablecoins accounted for 70% of African startup funding in May

Around 70% of disclosed African startup funding in May came from three stablecoin-related transactions, according to the Condia funding tracker. African startups reported $228 million across 12 deals in May 2026, but that headline figure was driven by Paymentology’s $175 million raise; excluding Paymentology the month fell to $53 million. Between May 20 and May 27 alone, three stablecoin infrastructure companies announced raises totalling $37.4 million: Sorted Wallet ($4.4 million), Checkers ($8 million) and Nala (a $50 million credit facility with an initial $25 million commitment).

"The three companies own different parts of the stablecoin stack," the Condia tracker observed, describing Sorted as an access layer, Checkers as middleware for institutions and Nala as a working capital engine.

Context and deal details

• Sorted Wallet raised $4.4 million in a round co-led by Tether and Gnosis VC, with participation from Movement, Angel Invest Group and founders of RWA.io. The round also included $1 million in support from Vox Solutions. Sorted is building a non-custodial stablecoin wallet tailored for feature phones and low-end Android devices.
• Checkers closed an $8 million seed led by Galaxy Ventures, Al Mada Ventures and Framework Ventures, with participation from DFS Lab, Bitso, Airtm, Iyin Aboyeji and Gwera Kiwana. Founded in 2025, Checkers provides an API that connects banks, remittance firms and neobanks to stablecoin liquidity and payment rails, supporting 75 currencies and claiming to have processed more than $3 billion in transactions in its first year.
• Nala announced a $50 million credit facility from Liquidity, arranged through Mars Growth Capital — a joint venture between Liquidity and MUFG Bank. The initial commitment is $25 million and is structured to scale with transaction volumes; Nala says the facility is deliberately non-dilutive and that it still holds more than half the capital from its $40 million equity raise in 2024. Founded by Benjamin Fernandes in Tanzania, Nala has pivoted from a consumer remittance app to B2B stablecoin payments infrastructure to meet rising enterprise demand.
• Beyond the stablecoin cluster, May’s activity included a mix of development finance and local rounds: Paymentology’s $175 million raise dominated the headline total; Proparco led a $2 million Series A into remittance infrastructure firm Cauridor with participation from Flourish Ventures and LoftyInc Capital; ARRW, an Egyptian ride-hailing startup, raised $4 million from Tasheed Egypt; MIA Healthcare secured $910,000 from Vumela Fund; and Tunisian insurtech EYST raised an undisclosed seed from 216 Capital.
• Development finance institutions were active: Village Capital and FMO backed two Ghanaian startups, Proparco backed Cauridor, Triple Jump provided $8 million in debt to MAX, and Invest International backed Electric Transits Africa. Condia notes that excluding Paymentology and DFI deals, venture activity in May narrows to seven deals raising just under $20 million.
• Investor composition stood out: Tether — the world’s largest stablecoin issuer — co-led the Sorted round, and Al Mada Ventures, the investment vehicle linked to Morocco’s royal family and parent group of Attijariwafa Bank, co-led Checkers, signaling interest from traditional African finance.

Outlook

From January through May, Condia records approximately $47 million raised by stablecoin infrastructure companies across six deals, and the May cluster suggests builders are layering wallets, middleware, card rails and working capital facilities in parallel. While no single company has claimed dominance, the pattern of funding — involving global crypto funds and African institutional players — indicates investor conviction in stablecoin rails for cross-border and domestic payments. How regulatory clarity and on-the-ground adoption evolve will determine whether this concentrated burst converts into sustained, broader venture activity across the continent.