Wave raises $137 million in debt to expand mobile money services across Africa

Wave, one of Africa’s most valuable startups, has raised a $137 million debt round to bolster its working capital and drive expansion across existing and new markets. The funding will help scale its mobile money operations and broaden financial access for underserved communities across the continent, the company said in a statement.

Rand Merchant Bank (RMB) led the funding round alongside a consortium of global development finance institutions, including British International Investment (BII), Finnfund, and Norfund. The funding comes amid continued investor confidence in Wave’s low-cost financial services model.

“I’m thrilled about this funding, it means we can help even more people by delivering the best possible product at the lowest possible price,” said Drew Durbin, CEO of Wave.

The startup, which operates in eight markets across West Africa, has grown rapidly since its 2018 launch. Today, it serves over 20 million monthly active users through a network of more than 150,000 agents and a team of 3,000 employees across the continent. In June, Wave received authorisation to operate in Cameroon through a partnership with Commercial Bank Cameroon (CBC).

Its mobile-first approach, centred on low fees, has helped bring millions of previously unbanked individuals into the formal financial system. Wave entered a market heavily dominated by telecom companies like Orange, Free, and Expresso Telecom, which charged between 5% and 10% per transaction.

Wave’s affordable business model was its key differentiator: it offers free deposits and withdrawals via its mobile application and applies a fixed transaction fee of just 1% for money transfers between individuals. Unlike competitors, it passes additional fees for bill payments from users on to businesses.

Wave became Francophone Africa’s first unicorn in September 2021, reaching a valuation of $1.7 billion after closing a $200 million Series A funding round. This was the largest Series A round ever recorded for an African startup. It has since raised over $300 million in total funding.

For two consecutive years, 2023 and 2024, Wave has been the only African company listed on Y Combinator’s top 50 earning startups list, a testament to the success of its business model.

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