Nigerian Stablecoin Fintech Daya Secures $2.4 Million in Pre-Seed Funding
Nigerian stablecoin startup Daya has closed a $2.4 million pre-seed round to expand its cross-border payment network for African businesses, the company announced this week.
The round was led by New York-based digital asset investor Hivemind Capital, with backing from Lattice Fund, Alliance DAO, Aptos Foundation, and Singapore’s Globelink Investment. According to co-founder Tomiwa “Aleph” Lasebikan, the round was oversubscribed, and the team is now focused on shipping products and delivering on promises made to investors and early backers.
This stablecoin startup Daya was founded in October 2025 by Lasebikan and Paul Joe. The company helps African businesses receive dollar payments, settle transactions in stablecoins, and move money across borders using a mix of regulated banking partners and blockchain settlement rails. The fresh capital arrives seven months after Daya graduated from the Alliance DAO ALL15 accelerator cohort, placing it alongside other Africa-focused players like Yellow Card and Juicyway chasing the same bet: that stablecoins can become a mainstream tool for business payments rather than just a crypto trading asset.
The timing reflects a broader shift in global finance. Stablecoins settled close to $28 trillion in transaction value worldwide in 2025, according to blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis, with a large share tied to real-world uses like payments and remittances rather than speculation. For African businesses that often lose time and money routing international payments through correspondent banks, stablecoin rails offer a faster, cheaper alternative while still relying on licensed institutions for fiat conversion.
Daya’s platform gives businesses access to dollar-denominated accounts, lets them settle funds in stablecoins, and gives them the choice to hold, send internationally, or convert to local currency. The startup has also been building out partnerships to support this model. In June, it teamed up with Aptos Foundation and Dubai-based exchange HashKey MENA to pilot a stablecoin settlement corridor linking African and Middle Eastern businesses, giving users access to USD, HKD, and CNY virtual accounts on one platform.
Daya says it has grown more than 40% month-on-month through 2026, though Lasebikan declined to disclose exact customer numbers. Lattice Fund, in a statement announcing the raise, pointed to the fragmented systems many businesses still rely on, local banks, FX desks, OTC relationships, and manual approval flowsc, as the inefficiency Daya is trying to solve.
With the new funding, Daya plans to expand its payment corridors, strengthen compliance infrastructure, and deepen partnerships with financial institutions as it works toward becoming what it calls a financial operating layer for African businesses moving money globally.
