Crypto exchange platform raises $15m series A funding

Pan-African cryptocurrency exchange, Yellow Card, has announced a $15 million series A, the largest ever by an African cryptocurrency exchange, to ramp up hiring and continue its expansion across the continent. The round was led by Valar Ventures, Third Prime, and Castle Island Ventures with participation from Square Inc., Blockchain.com Ventures, Coinbase Ventures, Polychain Capital, BlockFi, Fabric Ventures, Raba Partnership, MoonPay, GreenHouse Capital, and more.

Chris Maurice, co-founder and CEO of Yellow Card, expressed the significance of this round of investment for Yellow Card’s future: ”Our mission has always been to make cryptocurrency accessible anywhere and everywhere across the African continent. Now, we have the backing to make that a reality, alongside an amazing team of investors who share our vision.”

Since launching in Nigeria in 2018, the U.S. and Africa-based Yellow Card team has sought to make cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Ethereum, and USDT Stablecoin accessible to anyone in Africa. The company now has the largest geographical footprint on the continent, with a presence in 12 countries, 110 employees across 16 countries, and a nearly 30x increase in users across Africa since the start of the pandemic.

”Africa is poised to benefit tremendously from cryptocurrency’s potential to transform financial services,” Valar Ventures’ James Fitzgerald said. ”We believe in Yellow Card’s vision of a pan-African cryptocurrency platform. What cemented the deal is their multi-national team, which we believe has the local knowledge, technical expertise, and unequivocal passion to address the basic financial services needs of the continent.”

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