The traction we generated without exposure made investment easy – Juicyway CEO

Crypto cross-border payment company, Juicyway, announced that it has raised $3 million in a preseed funding round. The round which was led by P1 Ventures, witnessed participation from Ventures Platform, Future Africa, Magic Fund, Andrew Alli, Gbenga Oyebode, Tunde Folawiyo, Microtraction, and others. 

The most impressive aspect of this fundraising was that the company was able to attract as much investment while only launching out of stealth mode. It’s not often that we see a startup emerge from stealth and land such an impressive sum in backing. Speaking with Technext, Co-founder and CEO of Juicyway, Ife Johnson, said it all comes down to the immense traction the company has generated even without exposure to the market.

“We have been working hand in hand with our investors and the traction the business has generated without exposure to the public market has made their decision easier. The reward for good work is more work and we are looking forward to using this funding to continue working towards our goal of increasing the participation of Africans in the global economy,” Ife said.

Juicyway has processed $1.3 billion across 25,000 transactions, and 4,000 customers, a milestone the company believes has proven its value and efficiency. The startup services prominent brands like Bolt, IHS, Piggyvest, Mocoh SA, Bamboo, and Afriex. It also boasts partnerships with Access Bank for remittance services.

Juicyway’s unique cross-border payment solution

Juicyway was founded in 2021 by Ife Johnson and Justin Ziegler. The company enables individuals and businesses to send, receive, and process payments globally. Licensed in Nigeria, Canada, the USA, and the UK, the platform supports fiat currencies like the Nigerian Naira (NGN), US Dollar (USD), and Canadian Dollar (CAD), as well as cryptocurrency transactions.

Remittance fees in Africa averaged 13 per cent per $200 transfer in 2023. Such a high fee demonstrates the clear need for cost-effective solutions. Juicyway addresses this need by leveraging stablecoin technology to enable fast, affordable global money transfers with 24/7 execution and settlement.

The company achieves this through its web and mobile apps as well as its APIs. The company simplifies money movement while ensuring market-driven pricing. By displaying real-time rates based on what other users are willing to pay, the platform creates a liquid ecosystem, lowers remittance costs, and empowers users to trade confidently, allowing greater financial inclusion.

Interestingly, there are a handful of cross-border payment companies out there who claim their platform is the best. For a startup like Juicyway, coming out of stealth mode, it has to introduce a truly unique solution that is special and undeniable.

Speaking about the uniqueness of their service, CEO, Ife Johnson told Technext that the company’s business model stands it out among others as they are not the primary counterparty of transactions.

“The way our business model is designed is what makes us stand out. We are not the primary counterparty to every transaction. Every time there is a supply of foreign currency into our platform, there are real counterparties buying it and vice versa. This network model coupled with the use of stablecoins to quicken money movement is what makes Juicyway unique. It also means anyone can use our platform,” the CEO said.

Speaking about future funding, Ife said there are four markets where they need to build a critical mass of customers. So, with each new milestone, the company would have financing needs. The CEO also said the startup is envisaging new financing needs as it expands beyond those markets. He, however, said that does not matter to the company as much as getting closer every day to its mission of increasing the participation of Africans in the global economy.

About Juicyway’s expansion plans, the CEO said the startup is licensed to do business in Nigeria, USA, Canada and the UK. When they hit a critical mass, the team will evaluate the African countries to go to based on the thesis in our paper.

“Over the next three years, we want to be the platform where Nigerians and eventually the whole of Africa, and those doing business on the continent can easily convert African currencies to local ones and back. Our ultimate goal is to unlock liquidity for African currency pairs that currently have none. Stablecoin technology and our network model make this vision achievable by enabling fast and efficient money movement. Without it, we’d still be in pursuit of this goal, but it would be far harder to achieve,” the CEO said.

See also: Bamboo secures U.S. license to provide Africans with easy access to U.S. securities