Nigerian fintech startup Hizo has raised $100,000 in seed funding through a Friends and Family round, officially closed on June 4, 2025, to support its mission of simplifying cross-border payments across Africa. The round was led by a notable local angel investor and marks the startup’s first major step toward scaling its intra-Africa financial services platform.
Hizo is aiming to address one of the continent’s long-standing challenges: the difficulty and cost of transferring money within Africa. Currently in its pilot phase in Nigeria, Hizo allows individuals and small businesses to send, receive, and spend their local currencies across more than 14 African countries, without converting to foreign exchange currencies such as the U.S. dollar.
“Most remittance platforms focus on money flowing from the West and often overlook the massive value exchanged daily within Africa,” said Victor Chiedu, CEO of Hizo. “We’re building a platform for the everyday African economy, made by Africans, for Africans.”
Strategic Focus Areas
The $100,000 investment will support Hizo in three key areas:
- Product Innovation: Enhancing the technical backbone of the platform and adding new features that improve usability.
- Market Expansion: Launching targeted marketing campaigns to grow its user base and improve brand visibility.
- Team Development: Training staff to help scale operations efficiently and foster innovation.
By choosing to raise money from a close network of mission-aligned supporters, Hizo emphasizes its community-first approach. “This round was about more than money,” Chiedu noted. “It was about building a committed support system that believes in the impact of intra-Africa financial connectivity.”
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Vision for the Future
With the seed round complete, Hizo is preparing to attract institutional investors and deepen its collaboration with regional financial institutions and mobile money operators. Plans are already in place to integrate additional African currencies, build partnerships with remittance aggregators, and further reduce Africa’s dependency on foreign exchange intermediaries.
The fintech sees this as a critical step toward economic empowerment on the continent. “We envision a future where a trader in Nairobi can seamlessly transact with a partner in Lagos, each using their local currency,” said Chiedu. “That’s the kind of financial independence Africa needs.”
As intra-African trade grows under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), platforms like Hizo could become vital to unlocking smoother, cheaper, and more inclusive financial flows, making this early investment one to watch.
