When South African fintech Ezeebit closed a $2.05 million seed round, it was not merely another early-stage funding announcement in Africa’s crowded fintech landscape. It was a signal that stablecoins are moving from the margins of speculation into the infrastructure layer of everyday commerce.
The round was led by Raba Partnership, with participation from Founder Collective, alongside a group of strategic angels drawn from the upper ranks of global payments and crypto infrastructure firms, including Visa, Talos, Hello Group, BVNK and Revolut. The capital will be deployed to accelerate product development and expand merchant adoption across South Africa, Kenya and Nigeria, three of the continent’s most active digital payments markets.
Founded in 2023, Ezeebit positions itself at a critical intersection of the fast-growing digital asset economy and the practical realities of African merchant payments. Its proposition is straightforward but ambitious, allowing businesses to accept crypto as easily as card payments, without the volatility, compliance risk or operational complexity that has historically held adoption back.
A Market Caught Between Old Rails and New Money
Africa’s payments problem is well documented. Credit card penetration in Sub-Saharan Africa remains below 5 percent. In comparison, traditional card rails impose fees of 2–3 percent or more, settlement delays of three to five days, frequent transaction declines and limited cross-border functionality.
At the same time, millions of Africans already hold cryptocurrency, often for remittances, savings or protection against inflation, yet lack reliable ways to spend it in the real economy.
“African merchants are tied to slow, expensive payment rails, while consumers increasingly hold crypto for remittances and savings but lack a safe way to spend it,” said Daniel Katz, co-founder and chief executive of Ezeebit.
“We bridge this gap by connecting decentralised and traditional finance with a compliant stablecoin settlement layer.”
Ezeebit’s platform allows merchants to accept payments from any digital wallet-custodial, non-custodial, DeFi or offshore across Android ePOS devices, e-commerce plugins and API integrations. Supported assets include Bitcoin, USDT, USDC, ETH and others.
Crucially, settlement occurs instantly in stablecoins, with next-business-day local fiat payouts, removing exposure to price volatility. Merchant fees are 1 percent or less, delivering a 68 percent cost saving compared to traditional card payments.
Investors Bet on Infrastructure, Not Hype
The investor lineup reflects a deliberate emphasis on infrastructure over speculation.
Raba Partnership, which led the round, has previously backed Flutterwave, Stitch, Fuse and BVNK, companies that have shaped Africa’s modern payments stack. Founder Collective, an early investor in Uber, Airtable, WHOOP and The Trade Desk, joined the round with a thesis centred on usability and scale.
“What excites us most is how Ezeebit makes something complex feel simple,” said Amanda Herson, General Partner at Founder Collective.
“They’ve built real infrastructure, including wallet orchestration, instant hedging, and compliance tooling, that makes crypto payments work like tapping a card.”
Strategic angels in the round include Terry Angelos (ex-Visa), Anton Katz (Talos), Nadir Khamissa (Hello Group), David De Picciotto (ex-Revolut) and Chris Harmse (BVNK), a group that collectively brings decades of experience in global payments, liquidity and regulation.
Riding Powerful Structural Tailwinds
Ezeebit’s timing aligns with deeper structural shifts in African finance.
According to the 2025 Geography of Cryptocurrency Report, Sub-Saharan Africa received more than $205 billion (R3.5 trillion) in on-chain value between July 2024 and June 2025, representing a 52 percent year-on-year increase. This made the region the third-fastest-growing crypto market globally, behind only Asia-Pacific and Latin America.
Meanwhile, mobile money has already normalised QR-based and account-to-account payments for hundreds of millions of users, lowering behavioural barriers to alternative payment rails.
“Mobile money has already sensitised hundreds of millions of consumers to pay digitally via QR and account-to-account transfers,” Katz said.
“Stablecoins are the logical next step. What’s more, at 8.78 percent, Sub-Saharan Africa remains the most expensive region in the world to receive remittances, making crypto rails a compelling alternative.”
Once crypto enters consumers’ wallets, Katz argues, spending follows naturally creating what he describes as a reinforcing growth loop between merchants and users.
Compliance as a Competitive Advantage
Unlike many crypto-native platforms, Ezeebit has taken a compliance-first approach from inception.
The company operates under South Africa’s Financial Sector Conduct Authority, licensed as both a Financial Services Provider and a Crypto Asset Service Provider. Its platform integrates AML and KYC tooling by design, is Travel Rule ready and offers a wallet-agnostic checkout experience.
This structure allows merchants to accept digital assets without assuming regulatory or volatility risk, a critical factor for mainstream adoption.
“Sub-Saharan Africa being the most expensive region for money movement creates an opportunity,” said George Rzepecki, founder of Raba Partnership.
“Ezeebit is rebuilding the payment stack with compliant stablecoin and crypto rails. Regulatory clarity in key African markets creates a rare window to build this infrastructure at scale.”
From Stealth to Scale
Since launching in 2023, Ezeebit has processed more than 30,000 transactions, totalling millions of dollars in gross merchandise value. Clients include iStore, Le Creuset, Scoin, Tintswalo Lodges, Diesel, Amiri, Al Capone Premium and Ritual.
The company emerged from stealth earlier this year and now plans to deepen partnerships with banks, payment service providers and telecom operators as it expands across the continent.
In a region where payments remain a brake on commerce rather than an enabler, Ezeebit’s bet is that stablecoins properly regulated, invisible to the user and priced for scale can do for merchant payments what mobile money did for peer-to-peer transfers.
