Nigerian Fintech Startups, Miden, Cleva Join YC Winter '24 batch
|
| A photograph of the miden team. source: miden.co/about-us |
Miden allows you issue virtual cards to your customers seamlessly. Cleva, better known as Cleva Banking offers business banking solutions and allows users to create USD accounts and also create virtual cards.
Recall that Cleva raised 15 million to boost cross border payments in Africa.
Learn about Cleva and Miden
Cleva
Cleva's tagline :
"A Cleva US-based account in your name to receive USD payments, even as a non-US resident."
positions them rightly as a remittance financial technology company in Nigeria and Africa.
Cleva allows you to open a USD account fast and without difficulty and limit the amount you're charged for deposits collected. You will never be charged more than $20 for every deposit you receive.
Tolu Alabi and Philip Abel, two former Stripe and AWS employees, founded Cleva in August 2023. The company is formally registered with the US Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) as a Money Service Business (MSB). The fintech firm based in Nigeria states that it has processed over $1 million in payments every month and has seen a 100% increase in income month over month.
According to Alabi, "Cleva is not trying to solve an African or Nigerian problem; rather, it is attempting to solve the issue of people being able to receive international payments." It is a worldwide issue; individuals in Asia, Latin America, and even Canada need payment in dollars for their labor and services.
Miden
MIDEN was founded in 2022 by co-founders, Okiemute Avworhokai (CEO) and Ini Udoh (CTO), with a simple vision: to enable businesses to handle payments safely and quickly using embedded techniques and a single integration.
Miden is a card API-issuing product by Nigerian fintech Tyrus Technologies, which specializes in virtual cards and integrated banking solutions.
As of October last year, Miden has issued over 50,000 cards, with monthly transaction volumes reaching $1.5 million and a 100% customer retention rate.
How does YC Combinator work and how much do they give startups
Every firm receives a $500,000 standard term investment from YC. They have invested $500k in two different safes:
In exchange for 7% of your business, they put $125,000 in a post-money safe (the "$125k safe").
They also spend $375,000 on an uncapped safe (the "MFN safe") that has a Most Favored Nation ("MFN") clause.
Conclusion
As shown in this article, and with it's admission of Miden and Cleva banking, it would appear that YC is targeting remittance companies with a particular interest in virtual cards.
What are your thoughts on this. Kindly leave it in the comment section
