Kuda
“Can a CBN-licensed Nigerian neobank become the default money platform for every African on the planet — including the diaspora — by owning the banking, payments and remittance rails end-to-end?”
Founded 2019 as a zero-fee mobile-first challenger bank for Nigerians, operating under a CBN microfinance bank license. Rapid 2020-21 funding (Valar/Target Global) pushed it to a $500M valuation and expansion ambitions across Africa and the diaspora. After shelving an early diaspora-remittance attempt that relied on third-party providers, Kuda rebuilt cross-border remittance in-house in 2026 via a multi-currency wallet, signalling a pivot from pure Nigerian retail neobank toward a diaspora-to-Africa money movement platform — while simultaneously productising its banking rails as the Kuda Business API.