Klasha Snags $2.4M for African Cross-Border Commerce

San Francisco-based cross-border technology company Klasha on Thursday (Oct. 7) announced it has raised $2.4 million in seed funding that it plans to use to build the necessary technology infrastructure for cross-border commerce in Africa, according to a TechCabal report.

Greycroft led Klasha’s funding round, while Seedcamp, Berrywood Capital, AVG Basecamp Fund, Practical VC, Plug and Play, First Round VC, Expert Dojo, 2.12 Angels, MiLA Capital and several angel investors also participated in the effort.

Klasha will use the new money to help international B2B and B2C businesses take in online payments in African currencies from consumers across the continent and giving the merchants the money in their preferred currency. It’s available in Nigeria, Ghana and Kenya with plans to add three new countries in the fourth quarter of this year to add to the customer base of 10,000 people.

“By 2025, half of the world’s population will live in Africa,” Klasha Founder and CEO Jessica Anuna said in the company announcement. “It is imperative that African consumers are able to remain globally competitive, which includes having access to the goods they want without payment or delivery restrictions.”

Klasha has processed more than 20,000 transactions across Africa since launching five months ago, growing at an average rate of 366% from month to month.

There are more than 400 million internet users in Africa and the continent’s total eCommerce value is expected to hit $29 billion next year.

“As a business, it is important that we not only build but move fast,” said Oloyede Oladimeji, CTO of Klasha, in the company announcement. “Every day, we are scaling our solution to solving a unique problem, connecting Africa to global merchants.

“Africa is a growing economy with huge potential but low card payment penetration, and we are enabling consumers in Africa to access products irrespective of their payment methods,” he said.

Related: Klasha’s New Links Let Firms Accept Cross-Border Funds

In July, Klasha debuted a no-code method for business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-consumer (B2C) merchants, among others, to accept payments: the Klasha Payment Link. The tool lets African customers pay international companies, even without an app, website or any coding knowledge.

Companies can use their KlashaDash dashboards to make a simple, tailored checkout page and clients can then make payments through their preferred payment method.