Raenest has entered the United States as part of a broader international push, eight months after securing a $11 million Series A round. The Nigeria-based remittance and multicurrency account provider is using fresh capital to open new corridors, with the U.S. described as its most consequential market to date. The move was announced at the inaugural Raenest Exchange 2025 event in Lagos, positioning the company for faster growth across Africa-to-world payment flows.
Expansion Details
Chief Executive Officer Victor Alade framed the launch as a step toward serving Africans “wherever their journey takes them,” underscoring a strategy disclosed during the funding announcement. The firm reiterated that Egypt remains a priority entry point as its network scales beyond West Africa. By adding the U.S., Raenest gains direct access to one of the largest remittance and freelancer payment origination markets.
Product and Feature Set
Alongside the U.S. entry, Raenest rolled out features designed to compress settlement times and widen payment options. Users can now receive funds in the USDT stablecoin, which the platform automatically converts to U.S. dollars to reduce friction and volatility at cash-out. The company also said it has integrated with platforms such as Upwork to cut payout access times to under an hour and introduced in-app stock trading to broaden its personal finance utility.
Market Context and Competitive Landscape
Raenest’s transatlantic move places it within a cohort of Nigerian fintechs translating domestic traction into global plays. Firms like Paga and Moniepoint have flagged European ambitions, highlighting a broader shift from single-market solutions to multi-region payment infrastructure. Against that backdrop, Raenest is betting that specialized tools for freelancers and small businesses can differentiate it from generalist wallets and traditional money transfer operators.
Company Background and Pivot
Founded in 2022, the startup initially operated as an Employer of Record provider before pivoting to cross-border payments for freelancers and businesses. That shift reflected mounting demand for reliable dollar, euro, and pound rails as remote work and global contracting accelerated across the continent. Today Raenest offers global bank accounts and supports payments in U.S. dollars, euros, and British pounds, aiming to standardize access for creators, contractors, and SMEs.
Consumer App and Traction
The company’s consumer-facing app, Geegpay, has been central to adoption among freelancers and content creators. Raenest says customers use the app to receive income from platforms such as Upwork, Fiverr, and Gusto, consolidating disparate revenue streams into a single wallet. According to company disclosures, the service has surpassed one million customers and processed more than $2 billion in transactions to date.
Strategic Rationale and Product Direction
Management describes the roadmap as a progression toward a financial super-app tailored to cross-border earners. Stablecoin acceptance with instant dollar conversion targets speed and predictability, while direct marketplace integrations address payout bottlenecks that historically lasted days. The addition of stock trading suggests an effort to deepen engagement and lifetime value beyond payments alone.
Implications for Users and Ecosystem
For African freelancers billing U.S. clients, the ability to receive, convert, and access funds quickly is a material upgrade to cash-flow reliability. Faster settlement can reduce reliance on informal workarounds and minimize foreign-exchange leakage during conversion. If sustained, those efficiencies could drive higher platform stickiness and strengthen the region’s participation in the global digital labor market.
Risks and Execution Challenges
Operating across jurisdictions introduces regulatory, compliance, and banking-partner complexities that can slow rollout timelines. Stablecoin rails bring their own risk parameters around liquidity, custody, and adherence to evolving policy guidance. Success will hinge on consistent uptime, transparent pricing, and the depth of corridor coverage as users compare options across competing services.
Raenest’s U.S. launch advances its ambition to be a default financial stack for Africa-linked freelancers and businesses transacting globally. With new features aimed at speed and flexibility, the company is translating recent funding into tangible product and market expansion. The next phase will test whether execution across multiple corridors can match the pace of customer growth and the rising expectations of a global user base.