Stablecoin Infra Startup Checker Raises $8M for Africa, Asia Expansion

BREAKING NEWSMay 22, 2026 at 2:16 PM UTC

TLDR

Checker secured $8 million in seed funding from key investors to expand its stablecoin payment infrastructure across Africa, Asia, and Latin America.
Founded in 2025, Checker builds infrastructure connecting banks, remittance firms, and neobanks to stablecoin liquidity and payment rails via a single API.
Checker plans to enhance payment coverage, reach new markets, and develop borrowing and lending products to streamline customer pre-funding needs, ultimately aiming to bridge the gap in stablecoin integration for financial institutions.

Checker raised $8 million in seed funding to expand its stablecoin payment infrastructure across Africa, Asia and Latin America.

The round was led by Galaxy Ventures, Al Mada Ventures and Framework Ventures. Other investors included DFS Lab, Bitso, Airtm, Onigiri Capital, SNZ Capital and Velocity Capital, along with operators from Africa’s technology sector, including Flutterwave co-founder Iyin Aboyeji, former Onafriq blockchain payments executive Gwera Kiwana and Juicyway co-founder Justin Ziegler.

Founded in 2025 by Jack Chong, Nathan Crocker, Justin McMahan and Michael Zaczyk, Checker builds infrastructure that lets banks, remittance firms and neobanks connect to stablecoin liquidity and payment rails through one API. The company says its network supports 75 currencies and African markets including Nigeria, Kenya, Tanzania, Ghana and Francophone West Africa.

Checker said it will use the funding to expand payment coverage, connect more markets and build borrowing and lending products that reduce pre-funding needs for customers. It also plans to launch AI agents for treasury management, back-office operations and predictive analytics for financial institutions.

The company has processed $3 billion in total volume and onboarded clients including Rail, Braza Bank in Brazil and Belo in Argentina. The raise comes as African regulators move to formalize virtual asset rules, with Kenya and Ghana advancing frameworks for virtual asset service providers.

Key Takeaways

Checker’s funding shows how stablecoins are moving from crypto trading into payment infrastructure. For banks, remittance companies and neobanks, the appeal is settlement speed, liquidity access and lower dependence on correspondent banking networks. Cross-border payments in Africa, Asia and Latin America can involve high fees, slow settlement, trapped liquidity and several intermediaries. Stablecoin rails can reduce some of those frictions, but regulated institutions still need compliance, reporting, liquidity partners, fraud controls and local payment connections. That is the gap Checker wants to fill. Its bet is that financial institutions will not build separate stablecoin integrations in every market. They will want one orchestration layer that connects providers, currencies and payment routes. Regulation is now the main swing factor. As countries such as Kenya and Ghana clarify virtual asset rules, infrastructure companies can work with licensed partners instead of operating in a gray zone. The market will still be competitive, with companies like Conduit and other stablecoin payment providers chasing the same rails. Checker’s test will be whether it can turn volume into durable revenue while meeting compliance standards across many jurisdictions.

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