Yellow Card raises new fund and begins expansion

YC Updates

back

Back to blog

Yellow Card raises new funds and begins expansion across Africa

YC Updates


On this page

Bitcoin is the answer

Nigeria’s top cryptocurrency exchange, Yellow Card has raised $1.5 million in a recent seed round.

The Atlanta-based Bitcoin exchange, founded in 2016, established a base in Nigeria in 2019 and has since become a household name associated with safe Bitcoin exchange in a clime saturated with cryptocurrency scams.

In a new round which included top investors like Polychain, venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz and Celo, our thriving crypto company succeeded in raising 1.5 million dollars. This is to aid the company to expand across Africa in a bid to replicate the astounding feat we have achieved in Nigeria in such little time.

Yellow Card entered the African market with a mission of financial inclusion for everyone.

This was spurred by the current dismal state of the African banking system which requires exorbitant transaction fees from customers, thus making it difficult for hard-working citizens to truly benefit from using the traditional banking system to send, receive and store their money. This has also been noted as one of the reasons for the poor savings culture amongst Nigerians.

However, since launching in Nigeria, we have succeeded in helping many Nigerians at home and in the diaspora to use Bitcoin to simplify this seemingly herculean task. And with the latest funding the company has secured, we aim to bring this ease of transaction to every African country until the mission of “Financial Inclusion for All” is accomplished.

A major way we have eased the adoption of Bitcoin in Nigeria is by making it possible for our customers to buy Bitcoin in various stores across the country with cash. By visiting a Bitcoin merchant of the over 35,000 vendors in the country, Nigerians can present cash and have their Bitcoin wallet credited instantly.

But that is only one of the ways to trade Bitcoin on Yellow Card; users can also choose to use Bank Transfer or their Naira Debit Card to purchase bitcoin. The ease of using Yellow Card as a crypto exchange has endeared our platform to many Nigerians.

Yellow Card launches in Kenya and Cameroon

With the new funding, we have immediately set in motion our expansion plan. On the 1st of September, Yellow Card officially launched in Cameroon and Kenya after an impressive number of people had signed up for early access in both countries as they eagerly awaited the launch.

With operations now live in Kenya and Cameroon, Yellow Card has now successfully launched in 5 African countries -- Nigeria, South Africa and Botswana being the other countries -- and is working hard to expand its operations to other countries soon.

Bitcoin is the answer

Speaking on how Yellow Card is currently performing, our Chief Marketing Officer, John Colson, said, “In the month of August alone, we saw over 20,000 new sign-ups on our platform, with the majority of those from Nigeria. This tells us that Nigerians are coming to understand the importance of Bitcoin in helping manage their wealth.” In addition to that, John mentioned that the current crisis the Nigerian economy is facing has made many Nigerians sceptical about investing in fiat money. “Bitcoin is the obvious answer,” he said.

As we expand across Africa, we are also expanding the services we offer. In the works are provisions for other cryptocurrencies on Yellow Card which we are eager to announce soon.