Wave
YC W12YC Top CompanyDakar, SN · Founded 2018 · 1,600 employees · 5 known investors
Find your way into Wave
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Wave builds a modern financial network for Africa offering bank account alternatives, money transfer, and lending services with no fees. The platform targets the over half of the African population without bank access, enabling them to save, transfer, and borrow money.
Also known as Wave Mobile Money
Founders & leadership· Y Combinator alumni (W12)
Wave was founded in 2018 by Drew Durbin.
Investors · 5
The YC application· Winter 2012 batch
Alumni Q&A
- How did your company get started? (i.e., How did the founders meet? How did you come up with the idea? How did you decide to be a founder?)
- The two founders met as freshman hallmates at Brown University. They first started Sendwave (YC12) to address high fees on international remittances to Africa, a problem one founder encountered while working with an NGO in Tanzania. After growing Sendwave into the largest digital remitter to Africa, they identified a larger problem in moving money domestically within African countries, sold Sendwave, and spun out Wave to offer low-cost mobile money, beginning in Senegal.
- How did you decide to apply to Y Combinator? What was your experience applying, going through the batch, and fundraising at demo day?
- One founder had followed YC since college, so applying was straightforward once they began working together. They cite the relationships built with advisors during the batch, many maintained over ten years later, as the most valuable part of the experience.
Summarized from the founders' answers on their Y Combinator profile.
Company profile
researched Aug 2026Wave is a financial services company focused on Africa, describing its mission as making the continent "the first cashless continent." It positions itself as building a modern financial network characterized by no account fees, instantly available funds, and broad acceptance, targeting a population in which more than half of people have no bank account.
The company frames its work as financial infrastructure: it argues that despite the earlier success of mobile money in Kenya, most Africans still lack affordable ways to save, transfer or borrow money for businesses and households, and it aims to address this with technology-driven, low-cost financial services. Wave was started by Drew Durbin, who previously built Sendwave, described as the largest digital remittance company serving Africa.
Founding story
Wave was founded by Drew Durbin, its co-founder and CEO. Durbin first built Sendwave, a digital remittance business serving Africa, and subsequently started Wave with the aim of bringing low-cost digital finance to people across the continent.
Business model
Wave provides consumer digital financial services positioned as an alternative to traditional bank accounts, advertising no account fees, instant availability of funds and wide acceptance across its network.
▸Full profile — market position, technology, go-to-market, geography
Market position
Wave presents itself as building the first modern financial network in Africa, contrasting its low-cost, fee-free approach with the limited reach of existing mobile money and banking services on the continent.
Technology
Wave states that it uses technology to build a radically inclusive and low-cost financial network, supported by an internal technology organization led by a chief technology officer.
Go-to-market
Distribution relies in part on an agent network, reflected in a dedicated head of agent operations, together with country-level general managers in individual African markets.
Consumers in African markets, including the large share of the population without bank accounts, who need affordable ways to save, transfer or borrow money.
Geography
Wave operates in Africa, with leadership roles including a General Manager for Senegal and a General Manager for Côte d'Ivoire, alongside a regional director and agent operations leadership.
Compiled by commissioned research from 8 cited public sources — announcements, filings, and press listed under research sources below.
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Competitors · 5
by search overlap
Companies competing with Wave for the same Google search keywords, organic and paid, via search-intersection analysis.
In the news
▸Research sources · 8
primary sources listed
- Wavewave.com · web
8 public sources were cited for this profile; the first-party ones are listed here.
Frequently asked questions
- What does Wave do?
- Wave is a mobile money provider building a low-cost digital financial network across Africa.
- Who founded Wave?
- Wave was founded by Drew Durbin in 2018.
- Who are Wave's investors?
- Wave's investors include Glynn Capital Management, LoftyInc Capital, Movac, South Quad, Y Combinator.
- Where is Wave headquartered?
- Wave is headquartered in Dakar, SN.