Fundraising Fox

Klasha

Techstars '18Plug and Play Ventures

Lagos, NG · Founded 2021 · 49 employees on LinkedIn · 14 known investors

Klasha is a cross-border payments platform that enables businesses to collect, send, and hold funds between Africa and Asia, supporting over 120 currencies. The company helps merchants reduce costs and friction in trade flows between the two regions.

Also known as Klasha Business

FintechRetail Tech

Founders & leadership

Klasha was founded in 2021 by Jess Anuna.

JA
Jess Anuna

Investors · 14

2.12 AngelsTiburon · $100K
Capria VenturesBengaluru · $300K – $1M
Expert DOJOSanta Monica · $50K – $100K
SeedcampLondon · $378K – $1.1M
TechstarsBoulder · $220K
Alumni VenturesreportedManchester · $100K – $10M
Breegareported · 2 sourcesLondon · $540K – $16.2M
GreycroftreportedNew York · $100K – $5M
MAGIC Fundreported · 2 sourcesLos Angeles · $50K – $5M
Plug and Play VenturesreportedSunnyvale · $50K – $12M

Also in the syndicate · 4

My Asia VCPractical VCResilience 17Resilience17

Funding

SEC filings, press & company announcements

$2M disclosed across 1 round · 2024

Source: company announcements and press reports — follow each round's link for the claim.

Company profile

researched Aug 2026

Klasha is a cross-border payments provider focused on emerging markets, with product lines covering payments from Africa into Asia, local payment collection, and global payouts. Its Asia corridor product allows businesses and individuals to pay suppliers, partners, tuition or service providers in China, Hong Kong and other parts of Asia, with automatic conversion from a local African currency into CNY and stated settlement times of T+1 to T+3 days.

On the collections side, Klasha offers a single API through which merchants can accept local currencies and local payment methods in emerging markets while receiving settlement in USD, EUR or another preferred currency. Its payouts product runs in the opposite direction: businesses send funds in USD, EUR or CNY and recipients receive local-currency settlement into bank accounts and mobile wallets across Africa. A separate product, Klasha Wire, lets customers fund payments in NGN, KES, GHS or USD for delivery to overseas suppliers in the recipient's preferred currency, marketed without hidden or monthly charges.

The company states it is PCI-DSS and ISO-27001 compliant, subject to regular audits, and applies KYC verification and two-factor authentication on accounts.

Business model

Klasha sells payment infrastructure to businesses, offering API-based collections in local currencies, cross-border payouts, and wire transfers, alongside an app used by individuals and smaller merchants.

The website describes foreign-exchange conversion between local African currencies and USD, EUR and CNY, and states that Klasha Wire carries no hidden fees or monthly charges; specific pricing is not detailed.

Traction

The website cites more than 140,000,000 transactions across emerging markets and over 10,000 merchants.

▸Full profile — market position, technology, go-to-market, geography

Market position

Positioned as a cross-border payments provider for emerging markets, emphasising Africa-to-Asia corridors, FX rates and predictable settlement times for high-value transfers.

Technology

A single API is offered for both local payment collection in emerging markets and payouts settling into bank accounts and mobile wallets, supported by two-factor authentication, KYC verification, and PCI-DSS and ISO-27001 compliance.

Go-to-market

Self-serve account creation and a downloadable app alongside a contact-sales route for business customers, with customer testimonials from engineering, battery and extractive-sector firms.

Merchants and businesses making or receiving cross-border payments in emerging markets, including companies paying suppliers and partners in Asia, plus individuals paying for goods, tuition and services abroad.

Geography

Active in Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia, Uganda and other markets, with outbound corridors into China, Hong Kong and the wider Asia region; supported funding currencies include NGN, KES, GHS and USD.

Compiled by commissioned research from 1 cited public sources — announcements, filings, and press listed under research sources below.

Key figures

latest reported
HeadcountAug 202649
MerchantsJan 202610,000 merchants
Transactions across emerging marketsJan 2026140,000,000 transactions
Wire settlement timeJan 2026T+1-3 days

Company-reported or press-reported figures, each dated to when it was claimed — not independently audited.

Competitors · 10

by search overlap
Stripe53 shared keywordsStripe provides financial infrastructure for businesses to accept payments, offer financial services, and implement custom revenue models across international markets in 135+ currencies.
Airwallex42 shared keywordsAirwallex operates a global banking platform that provides cross-border payments, financial infrastructure, and AI-powered financial software for businesses. The platform serves companies across 200+ countries, enabling automated financial operations, expense management, and billing for global enterprises and AI-native businesses.
Bill.com Holdings, Inc.40 shared keywordsBILL is a unified financial operations platform that automates accounts payable, receivables, and spend management for businesses. The platform processes over $345 billion in annual payment volume and serves nearly 500,000 customers across the US and 130+ countries.
Wise39 shared keywordsWise is a financial platform offering international money transfers, multi-currency accounts, and debit cards with low fees and competitive exchange rates, serving millions of users globally.
Papaya Global39 shared keywordsPapaya Global is a workforce payments platform that runs payroll, employer-of-record hiring, contractor management and cross-border payments for companies employing people in more than 160 countries. Founded in 2016 by Eynat Guez, Ofer Herman and Ruben Drong, it treats global payroll as a payments problem and holds its own payment licences after acquiring Azimo in 2022.
Nuvei36 shared keywordsNuvei builds payment infrastructure that enables businesses to accept payments, process payouts, issue cards, and manage treasury and foreign exchange needs across 190+ countries. The platform supports 150 currencies, 720+ alternative payment methods, and serves enterprises, digital commerce platforms, and cross-border payment needs.
Ramp34 shared keywordsRamp offers a finance platform that combines corporate cards, expense management, and AI-driven automation for receipt capture, transaction coding, and reimbursements. It serves finance teams and businesses looking to consolidate spending tools and automate accounting workflows.
GoCardless34 shared keywordsGoCardless provides bank payment collection and open banking data access services. The platform enables businesses to collect domestic and international payments via bank accounts and securely access customer bank account data across 2,300+ banks in the UK and Europe.
Circle CeFi Growth34 shared keywordsCircle provides a full-stack platform for digital finance, combining blockchain infrastructure, stablecoins (USDC, EURC), and payment networks to enable borderless value exchange and financial access globally. The company operates with regulatory compliance across major jurisdictions and serves financial institutions, businesses, and individuals participating in the digital economy.
Tipalti33 shared keywordsTipalti offers an AI-powered finance automation platform that handles global accounts payable, payments, procurement, expenses, and treasury operations for businesses. It supports cross-border payments to over 200 countries in 120 currencies and integrates with ERPs, accounting systems, and other business tools, serving industries such as adtech, e-commerce, gaming, healthcare, and software.

Companies competing with Klasha for the same Google search keywords, organic and paid, via search-intersection analysis.

In the news

Nigerian fintech startup Klasha raises additional $2m for Chinese expansion - Disrupt Africadisruptafrica.com · Oct 2024Nigerian B2B Payment Startup, Klasha Secures Additional $2M in Funding - UrbanGeekzurbangeekz.com · Oct 2024Nigerian Fintech Klasha Raises USD 2 M From Existing Investorsweetracker.com · Oct 2024Klasha raises an additional $2M to expand B2B cross-border payment rails into China | TechCabaltechcabal.com · Oct 2024Klasha receives US$2.1M in funding to help them grow - FurtherAfricafurtherafrica.com · Jun 2022

▸Research sources · 1

primary sources listed

1 public sources were cited for this profile; the first-party ones are listed here.

Frequently asked questions

What does Klasha do?
Klasha operates cross-border payment infrastructure for collections, payouts and wires between Africa and Asia.
Who founded Klasha?
Klasha was founded by Jess Anuna in 2021.
Who are Klasha's investors?
Klasha's investors include 2.12 Angels, Capria Ventures, Expert DOJO, Seedcamp, Techstars, Alumni Ventures, Breega, Greycroft and 2 more.
How much funding has Klasha raised?
Klasha has disclosed $2M raised across 1 round.
Where is Klasha headquartered?
Klasha is headquartered in Lagos, NG.