As payment companies increasingly explore stablecoins for cross-border payments and real-time settlement, some startups are tapping into the zeitgeist by providing liquidity via a revolving line of credit in stablecoins.
One of them is Dubai-based Mansa, whose offering allows payments companies, mainly in Africa to date, to settle transactions and fund customer accounts instantly. The startup has raised $10 million in seed funding including both equity and debt. Stablecoin provider Tether led the $3 million equity investment.
The funds will support the company’s expansion into Latin America and Southeast Asia, regions where liquidity challenges also limit cross-border transactions.
Mansa says its model improves clients’ cash flow at a lower cost than fiat alternatives, positioning it as a key player in the future of payments. Its co-founders, CEO Mouloukou Sanoh and COO Nkiru Uwaje, bring several years of expertise in finance, payments and web3.
Sanoh, an investor in several African fintechs, previously worked at web3 VC firm Adaverse. Uwaje was an innovation manager at SWIFT and led blockchain strategy for Dell in the U.K. and Ireland.
Cross-border payments are crucial to global commerce, but many payment providers face liquidity shortages, leading to delayed settlements and higher operational costs, especially in emerging markets. Remittance costs average 6.5% globally, disproportionately affecting developing regions. With cross-border payments expected to reach $290.2 trillion annually by 2030, inefficiencies in the current system could cost businesses billions.
Mansa says it addresses this by offering fast, flexible embedded pre-funding solutions, completing due diligence in under a month. And unlike traditional lenders, it underwrites loans based on real-time transaction data rather than collateral while sourcing liquidity at scale through decentralized finance (DeFi). It aggregates capital from DeFi platforms, quant funds, family offices, and hedge funds.
For its seed round, Mansa secured $7 million in liquidity from some of these institutions. Meanwhile, other investors that participated in the equity round alongside Tether include Faculty Group, Octerra Capital, Polymorphic Capital, and Trive Digital.
“Payments are moving on chain, but in order for payments to move on chain you need to have the on-chain liquidity to be able to settle instantly,” Sanoh told TechCrunch. “That is why our partnership with Tether is so consequential and why we’re w …