Africa's $3bn payments champion trades Wall Street polish for regional banking steel as executive turnover points to deferred listing plans and domestic regulatory friction.
The Cairo-based fintech fund has joined the Moroccan B2B e-commerce startup's Series A extension, betting on its push into embedded finance and Banking-as-a-Service.
The company, which evolved from its 2012 origins as airtime credit provider Channel VAS, now processes over 31m transactions daily for 120m active monthly users.
The startup will use the seed funding to expand its B2B marketplace that buys surplus and "imperfect" produce from smallholder farmers, aiming to boost incomes and enter new markets.
The listing is the first for Morocco's non-banking financial sector and will fund a digital and physical expansion as the country aims to boost its public markets.
Unlike many high-burn tech companies that listed in 2021, Optasia is coming to market with strong fundamentals. The company is profitable, reporting revenue of $150m in 2024 and a net profit of $36m.
Africa's $3bn payments champion trades Wall Street polish for regional banking steel as executive turnover points to deferred listing plans and domestic regulatory friction.
Deal gives the crypto exchange an owned settlement layer across developed–emerging market corridors - but proposed South African rules may restrict the very activity it enables.
