Cloud9, a Nairobi digital bank aimed at traders who import goods from China, Dubai and India, has taken investment from crypto and fintech accelerator Alliance, bringing its total funding to $1 million.
Disrupt Africa did not put a figure on the new cheque. Tech In Africa reported it at $500,000.
The company was started by Tesh Mbaabu and Mesongo Sibuti, best known for MarketForce. That startup went through Y Combinator and raised a $2 million seed round before announcing a $40 million Series A in 2022. It shut its RejaReja retail marketplace in 2024 when funding dried up.
Built for importers
Cloud9 runs on stablecoin rails and gives a business one mobile account to hold shillings, dollars, euros, pounds and yuan. Users can pay suppliers in more than 100 countries, receive money from abroad into virtual accounts and cash out to mobile money. Payroll, bulk payments and approvals sit on the same dashboard.
The pitch is aimed at a real headache. Kenyan businesses import more than $20 billion of goods a year, and the founders say opening a bank business account can take two weeks, with each wire taking days to settle. Informal agents are faster but leave no paper trail.
“Kenya already skipped the bank branch once. Mobile money became how the country pays for almost everything, but only within its borders,” Mr Mbaabu said. “With Cloud9, a merchant in Nairobi should be able to pay a supplier in Guangzhou as easily as they pay a vendor down the street.”
Early traction
The service went live in early 2026 and says more than 25,000 accounts have been opened, with transaction volume growing more than 15 per cent week on week. The new money will go into more payment corridors, virtual and physical cards and user growth.
“Stablecoins are becoming the settlement layer for global trade, and Africa is where that shift matters most,” said Imran Khan, a general partner at Alliance.
The model will face regulatory questions. Kenya passed a virtual asset service providers law last year, and firms handling stablecoin payments must be licensed under it. Cloud9’s growth will depend as much on how that regime is applied as on demand from merchants.
Sources: Disrupt Africa | Tech In Africa
Photo: Jlewistexas / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
