NALA was founded by Benjamin Fernandes in 2022.

Who are NALA's investors?

NALA's investors include Acrew Capital, Alumni Ventures, Amplo Ventures, Bessemer Venture Partners, DFS Lab Frontier, Digital Currency Group, Liquidity Capital, Norrsken22 and 21 more.

Where is NALA headquartered?

NALA is headquartered in New York City, US.

NALA

YC W19

New York City, US · Founded 2022 · 168 employees · 30 known investors

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NALA operates two payment platforms: one enables consumers to send money across borders to emerging markets, while the other provides stablecoin-based payment infrastructure for businesses in those regions.

Fintech PaymentsUnited States of AmericaAmerica / CanadaPartly Remote

Founders & leadership· Y Combinator alumni (W19)

NALA was founded in 2022 by Benjamin Fernandes.

Benjamin Fernandes Founder & Chief Eating OfficerBenjamin Fernandes is a founder based in New York and London who operates NALA, which provides cross-border payment platforms for consumers and stablecoin-based payment infrastructure for businesses in emerging markets.

Investors · 30

Acrew Capitallisted by Acrew CapitalSan Francisco · $1M – $15M

How we know: Acrew Capital's portfolio page · the VCSheet dataset · open dataset · 5k.vc investor directory · Not right? Tell us

Alumni Ventureslisted by Alumni VenturesManchester · $100K – $10M

How we know: av.vc · Not right? Tell us

Amplo Ventureslisted by Amplo VenturesHouston

How we know: techcrunch.com · open dataset · 5k.vc investor directory · Not right? Tell us

Bessemer Venture Partnerslisted by Bessemer Venture PartnersSan Francisco · $50K – $100M

How we know: Bessemer Venture Partners's portfolio page · the VCSheet dataset · open dataset · 5k.vc investor directory · Not right? Tell us

DFS Lab Frontierlisted by DFS Lab Frontier

How we know: DFS Lab Frontier's portfolio page · Y Combinator's founder network · Not right? Tell us

Digital Currency Grouplisted by Digital Currency GroupNew York

How we know: Digital Currency Group's portfolio page · the VCSheet dataset · Not right? Tell us

Liquidity Capitallisted by Liquidity CapitalLondon

How we know: Liquidity Capital's portfolio page · Not right? Tell us

Norrsken22listed by Norrsken22Johannesburg

How we know: Norrsken22's portfolio page · open dataset · 5k.vc investor directory · Not right? Tell us

Nycalisted by NycaNew York · $2M

How we know: Nyca's portfolio page · open dataset · 5k.vc investor directory · Not right? Tell us

Nyca Partnerslisted by Nyca PartnersNew York · $1M – $10M

How we know: Nyca Partners's portfolio page · Not right? Tell us

Shine Capitallisted by Shine CapitalNew York · $1M – $10M

How we know: the VCSheet dataset · Not right? Tell us

The MBA Fundlisted by The MBA Fund

VentureSouqlisted by VentureSouqAbu Dhabi · $100K – $10M

How we know: Y Combinator's founder network · venturesouq.com · Not right? Tell us

Y Combinatorlisted by Y CombinatorSan Francisco · $500K

How we know: the Y Combinator directory · open dataset · 5k.vc investor directory · Not right? Tell us

9Yards CapitalreportedNew York · $100K – $10M

How we know: Y Combinator's founder network · Not right? Tell us

AccelreportedPalo Alto · $500K – $100M

How we know: techcrunch.com · Not right? Tell us

Aspect VenturesreportedPalo Alto

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Bogarooreported

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DFS LabreportedParis · $50K – $1M

How we know: techcrunch.com · the VCSheet dataset · open dataset · 5k.vc investor directory · Not right? Tell us

Equip Capital ASreportedOslo

How we know: Y Combinator's founder network · Not right? Tell us

Hard YakareportedMuir Beach

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Heron Rock AL Access FundsreportedSeattle

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HOF CapitalreportedNew York · $500K – $10M

How we know: Y Combinator's founder network · Not right? Tell us

Informed Ventures Advisors, LlcreportedMenlo Park

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Iris CapitalreportedParis · $1.1M – $32.4M

How we know: open dataset · 5k.vc investor directory · Not right? Tell us

Metis CapitalreportedLagos · $10K – $5M

How we know: the VCSheet dataset · Not right? Tell us

OurCrowdreportedJerusalem

How we know: Y Combinator's founder network · Not right? Tell us

Pelion Venture PartnersreportedSalt Lake City · $1M – $20M

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TechstarsreportedBoulder · $220K

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Also in the syndicate · 1

Bessemer Partners

Funding

SEC filings, press & company announcements

Undisclosed amountSeries AJul 2024
Source ↗
Undisclosed amountseedJan 2022
Amplo (lead), Accel, Bessemer Partners, DFS Lab
Source ↗

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

Founder mafia

2 people who came through NALA went on to found or lead other companies.

Kiana SharifiInvestorFounded HomeSuite Harrison TelyanInvestorFounded Flowglad

Related companies · 10

WiseWise 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.

CredPalCredpal operates a financial platform that integrates payments, savings, credit, and investments for individuals in Africa. The company serves millions of customers seeking unified financial management tools in a single application.

RemitlyRemitly is an international money transfer service that enables customers to send money across borders to multiple countries.

Touch and Pay Technologies LimitedTouch and Pay Technologies builds an NFC-based mobile payment platform for processing offline and online micro-transactions across Africa, targeting small businesses to large organizations for financial inclusion.

SendwaveSendwave provides international money transfer services designed to simplify remittances through digital channels with low fees and fast transfers, serving customers who want to send money across borders without visiting physical locations.

BuyPowerBuyPower operates a bill payment platform serving African individuals and businesses, offering consumer energy bill payment, vendor payment services for businesses, and an energy data product for lenders conducting credit assessments.

TAPTAPTaptap Send is a money transfer application that enables users to send remittances to over 70 destinations across Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, and Latin America at lower costs and faster speeds than traditional services. The platform operates in six countries and aims to reduce cross-border remittance costs for developing nations.

MonoMono provides financial data access, identity verification, and direct bank payments for businesses in Africa through an open banking platform. The company serves fintech companies and banks across three African countries.

Xoom CorporationXoom is an online and mobile money-transfer service that lets people send money internationally to friends and family, showing fees and the recipient amount before sending. It offers data encryption, 24/7 fraud monitoring, and multilingual customer support through global service centers.

NumidaNumida provides digital financial services including credit, savings, insurance, and payments to micro and small businesses in Africa. The company uses data-driven insights to build financial products tailored for growth.

Companies working in the same space as NALA.

In the news

NALA secures $50m credit facility for stablecoin paymentsfintech.global · May 2026

Nala to use $40M Series A to build B2B payments platform, scale remittance services | TechCrunchtechcrunch.com · Jul 2024

Nala set out to offer remittance services, it’s building a B2B payment platform too | TechCrunchtechcrunch.com · Mar 2024

Tanzanian fintech NALA raises $10M seed to build Revolut for Africa | TechCrunchtechcrunch.com · Jan 2022

Frequently asked questions

What does NALA do?: NALA operates two payment platforms: one enables consumers to send money across borders to emerging markets, while the other provides stablecoin-based payment infrastructure for businesses in those regions.
Who founded NALA?: NALA was founded by Benjamin Fernandes in 2022.
Who are NALA's investors?: NALA's investors include Acrew Capital, Alumni Ventures, Amplo Ventures, Bessemer Venture Partners, DFS Lab Frontier, Digital Currency Group, Liquidity Capital, Norrsken22 and 21 more.
Where is NALA headquartered?: NALA is headquartered in New York City, US.