Nigerian fintech company Raenest announced its official launch in the US market, now allowing Africans based in the US to manage their daily financial activities while still connecting them locally in their countries.
This development was announced at the Raenest Exchange 2025, held at the Balmoral Convention Centre, Victoria Island, Lagos, on October 9, 2025.
The CEO of Raenest, Victor Alade, said, “What started as a cause to solve personal problems grew into something bigger, evolving into Raenest and Geegpay. These two platforms have been helping different sets of users to manage and move their money across borders.”
Geegpay is a digital financial platform, powered by Raenest, designed to provide global banking solutions to African freelancers, remote workers, creators and digital businesses, with its virtual and physical USD cards, cross-border transfers, and multi-currency wallets.
Over the past three years, Raenest has helped over one million Africans move more than $2 billion effectively. In February, the platform raised $11 million in Series A funding to expand into the US.
Speaking at the event, Tobi Otokiti, VP of Product at Raenest, said the company wants to give users freedom, access, and full control of their finances — breaking the barriers to getting paid, managing money, and building wealth — giving every African the freedom to work and earn globally.
“Regardless of the country you are in the world, Raenest wants to be your global payment partner.”
Alongside its pivot into the US market, Raenest debuted five new features on its app.
- Raenest Fasttrack: Users can connect their Upwork account to the Raenest platform, and in under one hour, they can access and withdraw their funds, even on weekends.
- Stablecoins: Raenest users can now receive payments in USDC or USDT from clients and have these payments automatically converted to USD.
- Own shares in global companies: This feature lets users buy stocks in global companies like Apple, Tesla, and Amazon, directly from the Raenest app, with no delays or middlemen. The conversions can be done within the app for local currencies. There is also a tutorial that helps guide undecided stock buyers on the app.
- Raenest tag: This feature lets users transfer money free of charge on the app to other Raenest users who also have tags.
- Connecting Diaspora: For Africans in the US, the app allows them to send money to Nigerian wallets through an NGN account that is automatically created upon sign-up.
Cracking the code to African funding
Across Africa’s startup landscape, funding remains one of the most defining factors in building scalable businesses. While the continent continues to attract global attention for its youthful population, tech-driven innovation, and growing consumer markets, access to capital is still concentrated in a few regions and sectors.
Titled What Investors Want: Cracking the Code on Funding in Africa, the first panel session featured voices in business, finance, and technology, breaking down the key metrics to securing funding for both early and late-stage founders in Africa.
“The first thing we look for, because we have to return capital as investors, is the venture scale. The second thing is the quality of the founding team, their prior experience, and reputation.
Thirdly, we look at the timing and enabling environment. If a startup is too early to a market trend, they may run out of steam,” said Kola Aina, Founding Partner, Ventures Platform.
The session brought together venture capitalists, investors, startup founders, and technology experts.
Speakers for the session were Gbenga Ajayi, Partner at GED Investors; Kola Aina, Founding Partner, Ventures Platform; Lexi Novitse, General Partner at Norrsken; and Seye Bandele, CEO of PaidHR. It was hosted by Tage Kene-Okafor, Technology Journalist at TechCrunch.
Maximising creator opportunity
Africa’s creator economy is growing beyond trends; it’s becoming a legitimate industry, reshaping how young people earn, build influence, and create value. Yet, while many creators start with passion, few successfully turn that passion into structured, recurring income or sustainable businesses.
At the Raenest Exchange 2025, creators were given insights into what it truly takes to transition from content creation to business creation in the second panel session titled “From Creator to Empire Builder: The Blueprint to Scaling Passion into Recurring Revenue.”
The speaker list featured Nigerian content creator Alma Asinobi, Nollywood actor Deyemi Okanlawon, Tomiwa Aladekomo of Big Cabal Media, and Benjamin Dada of Condia. It was hosted by David Adeleke, Founder of Communiqué.
At a time when African creators are commanding global attention on platforms like Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube, this discussion delved into how creators could build brands that outlive viral moments, explore revenue models and leverage storytelling and technology — with personal experiences shared by the speakers.
“There’s not a lot of information available for creators in Africa. For me, I think, it was trying to see where the limit was,” Alma Asinobi shared.
Freelancing for the long term
In today’s digital economy, freelancing has evolved into a sustainable path for thousands of Africans, with platforms like Upwork allowing skilled professionals to earn remotely on their own terms.
While freelancing offers flexibility and global access, building a sustainable, long-term freelance career requires more than just skill. It demands strategy, consistency, and the ability to navigate changing client demands.
The panel session, “Freelancing and Upwork: Building Long-term Freelance Career,” dove into what it takes to thrive beyond the first few gigs, with insights from industry experts like Ademilade Shonipe-Dosunmu, Senior Technical Writer at Techopedia; Kelly Monahan, Courtney Allen of Upwork; OmoAlhaja Abiola of Skill Africa; and Olaniyi Musediq, a top-rated freelancer on Upwork.
“Freelancing is such that you don’t know when or where the next paycheck will come from, especially for those starting out. What I usually advise is for gig workers to build a safety net, something to fall back on. Also, try to get more value from existing clients; it’s easier to retain a customer than get a new one,” Ademilade Shodipe-Dosunmu told gig workers at the event.
Raenest Exchange 2025
The 2025 edition of Raenest Exchange was a full-day tech and business event, serving insights, blueprints, and strategies for founders, startups, creators, entrepreneurs, freelancers and the gig economy.
“This has been a great introduction to what the future holds, as Raenest establishes the railings and opens the gateway to global opportunities. At FourthCanvas, it’s been our pleasure collaborating with the Raenest team, and we hope the experience moving forward continues to leave an impression on your mind,” Victor Fatanmi, Director of Strategy, FourthCanvas, said.
Through conversations that touched on funding, freelancing, and the creative economy, alongside the unveiling of tools designed to connect Africans to borderless finance, the event showed how Raenest is bridging local talent and global opportunities.
