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Visa has joined a $4.5 million seed round for HoneyCoin, a payments orchestration startup that straddles both stablecoin and traditional bank rails. The raise was led by Flourish Ventures with participation from TLcom Capital, the Stellar Development Foundation, Lava, Musha Ventures, 4DX Ventures, and Antler.
Founded in 2020 by David Nandwa, HoneyCoin sells an API-driven platform that lets businesses collect payments, settle in real time via stablecoins or fiat, and spin up bank accounts, debit cards, or wallets across more than 45 markets. The company says it processes over $150 million in monthly transaction volume, serving 350+ enterprise clients and hundreds of thousands of consumers through its flagship app, Peer. Customers include Cedar Money, TerraPay, and Jiji.
For now, HoneyCoin’s pitch is to give businesses a single, compliant gateway to both stablecoins and traditional rails, and let them choose whichever is faster and cheaper. With Visa’s stamp of approval and a growing list of enterprise clients, the startup is betting that future-proof payments will mean keeping one foot in both worlds.
“Our mission is to build the operating system for money — how it’s moved, held, and collected, regardless of medium or geography,” Nandwa said. “Just as Apple redefined computing and Visa transformed global commerce, we believe financial infrastructure is undergoing another once-in-a-generation shift.”
HoneyCoin is licensed in the US, Canada, the EU, and several African markets. It has direct integrations with banks and telecom operators, including MoneyGram, UBA Bank, and Stripe, which provide both local settlement options and global reach.
For Visa, the investment fits into a steady push toward programmable settlement. Since 2021, the network has been testing and deploying stablecoin capabilities, most recently expanding USDC settlement to the Solana blockchain in partnership with acquirers like Worldpay and Nuvei. Adding HoneyCoin to its orbit could give Visa more stablecoin on- and off-ramps, especially in emerging markets where traditional banking infrastructure remains patchy.
The Stellar Development Foundation’s involvement is equally strategic. SDF has been building out USDC on the Stellar network as a cross-border payments tool, most visibly via MoneyGram’s crypto-to-cash services. HoneyCoin’s infrastructure could route some flows over Stellar, strengthening its role in FX and settlement.
Other backers bring deep reach in target markets. Flourish Ventures, spun out of the Omidyar Network, specialises in fintech infrastructure. TLcom Capital recently closed a $154 million Africa fund, while 4DX Ventures and Antler offer early-stage networks and distribution muscle across multiple regions.
The funding will go toward expanding HoneyCoin’s team, bolstering compliance and licensing, and refining its product suite for payment service providers and enterprises looking for compliant access to stablecoin settlement rails and FX liquidity.
