As the global payment industry increasingly turns to stablecoins for real-time settlements and cross-border transactions, Dubai-based fintech Mansa is stepping up to fill a critical gap in liquidity. The startup has raised $10 million in a seed funding round—comprising both equity and debt—to scale its innovative stablecoin-powered infrastructure.
Tether, the world’s leading stablecoin issuer, led the $3 million equity portion, joining forces with investors like Faculty Group, Octerra Capital, Polymorphic Capital, and Trive Digital. The remaining $7 million in liquidity was secured from decentralized finance (DeFi) platforms, quant funds, hedge funds, and family offices.
Mansa enables payment companies—primarily in Africa, and soon expanding into Latin America and Southeast Asia—to instantly settle transactions and pre-fund customer accounts using stablecoins. Its model offers faster liquidity at a lower cost than traditional fiat-based systems.
“Payments are moving on-chain, but to enable that, you need on-chain liquidity for instant settlement,” said Mouloukou Sanoh, Mansa’s Co-Founder and CEO. “That’s why our partnership with Tether is so consequential.”
A Fintech Born to Solve Liquidity Challenges
Founded by Sanoh—a seasoned investor and former Web3 VC at Adaverse—and Nkiru Uwaje, an ex-SWIFT innovation manager and Dell’s blockchain strategist, Mansa targets a major inefficiency in cross-border payments: limited liquidity.
Despite being vital to global commerce, cross-border transactions often face delays and high fees, especially in emerging markets where liquidity is scarce. The global average remittance fee stands at 6.5%, hitting developing countries the hardest.
Mansa addresses this by:
- Offering pre-funded stablecoin liquidity.
- Underwriting loans based on real-time transaction data, not collateral.
- Completing client due diligence in under a month.
- Utilizing embedded DeFi capital sources.
Its clients—ranging from B2B payment platforms and virtual card providers to remittance firms—report an average 30% increase in transaction volume and 10% revenue growth after integrating with Mansa’s platform.
From Lending to Becoming a Full-Fledged Payments Powerhouse
In just six months, Mansa has disbursed over $18 million to clients and now processes payments at a $240 million annual run rate. It projects hitting $1 billion in total payment volume (TPV) by year-end, with revenues growing 350% in the past six months.
And it’s only getting started.
“We’re beginning as the main liquidity provider for major payment companies across emerging markets,” said Sanoh. “From there, we aim to offer FX, handle payouts, and ultimately build a one-stop payment platform.”
Mansa’s long-term goal? To become the on-chain equivalent of Stripe—a hub where businesses can finance, settle, and convert currencies seamlessly.
A Bet on USDT in a Growing Market
Although competitors like USDC are gaining ground, Mansa remains bullish on Tether’s USDT. The company cites its wider global usage, market dominance, and superior accessibility—especially in non-EU markets where MiCA regulations recently led to delistings of several digital assets, including USDT.
Despite regulatory headwinds, Tether still holds 70% of global stablecoin trading volume.
To further ensure compliance, Mansa has strengthened its leadership by appointing HSBC’s former North Asia head and Franklin Templeton’s ex-chief legal officer. The company also emphasizes robust AML, KYC, KYB, transaction monitoring, and blockchain analytics protocols.
“We’re building a fintech and approach everything with that mindset,” said Uwaje, Mansa’s COO.
The Road Ahead
With Tether’s backing and a strong performance record, Mansa is poised to become a cornerstone of crypto-enabled financial infrastructure in emerging markets.
“We’re proud to collaborate with Mansa and support their efforts to reshape global payment infrastructure,” said Paolo Ardoino, CEO of Tether.
