Raenest

Raenest is a financial technology company founded in 2022 and headquartered in Frisco, Texas, with operations primarily serving users in Nigeria and across Africa. Originally launched under the name Geegpay, the company rebranded to Raenest to unify its consumer and business product lines under a single brand. The platform targets freelancers, remote workers, digital creators, social sellers, and growing companies who need to receive international payments, manage multi-currency accounts, and spend globally.

Origins and Founding Team

Raenest was founded by Victor Alade (CEO), Sodruldeen Mustapha, and Richard Oyome. All three co-founders brought prior experience from African fintech companies including LemFi, FairMoney, Jumia, and Andela. The company initially launched as an Employer of Record platform helping foreign companies pay African employees, but pivoted within months after identifying that the sharper pain point was on the receiving side: individuals struggling to collect payments from international clients and platforms.

Since 2022, Raenest has processed over $1 billion in payments, a 160% increase over its first two years. The platform reports more than one million users and over 11,000 business accounts.

Core Products

Multi-Currency Accounts. Users can hold balances in USD, GBP, and EUR. Accounts are issued in partnership with regulated banking institutions, including Regent Bank (Member FDIC) for US dollar accounts. This allows freelancers and businesses to receive payments from international clients, platforms like Upwork and Fiverr, and company payrolls without incurring the high fees typical of local bank conversions.

Stablecoin Accounts. Raenest supports receiving USDT and USDC directly into user accounts. Supported blockchain networks include Ethereum, Tron, Solana, Polygon, and Binance Smart Chain. Received stablecoins automatically convert to USD at a 1:1 rate, which can then be held, converted to local currency, or spent via card.

Payment Cards. Both virtual and physical Visa and Mastercard debit cards are available. Cards can be used for online subscriptions, e-commerce, travel, and anywhere Visa is accepted globally. Cards are funded directly from the user's Raenest balances.

Smart Invoicing. Built-in invoicing tools allow professionals and businesses to generate and send invoices to international clients, with payment received directly into their Raenest account.

US Stock Investments. Through a partnership with Alpaca Securities (a FINRA/SIPC member), Raenest users can invest in US equities, including fractional shares, from within the app. This feature is targeted at users in Africa who otherwise lack straightforward access to US markets.

Raenest for Business. Launched in March 2024, this product line enables African businesses to collect payments from international customers, manage cross-border transactions, and raise capital. Enterprise clients using the business product include Moniepoint, Helium Health, Fez Delivery, and Matta.

Solana Integration

Raenest added Solana as a supported network for stablecoin deposits in March 2026. The company cited Solana's transaction speed and low network fees as primary reasons for the integration. Users receiving USDT or USDC on Solana benefit from near-instant settlement compared to legacy cross-border wire transfers, which can take several business days. Raenest positioned the Solana integration as a lower-cost alternative to traditional stablecoin deposit methods, with a promotional zero-fee period for initial deposits at launch.

Solana joins Ethereum, Tron, Polygon, and Binance Smart Chain as the five networks on which Raenest accepts stablecoin inflows. The integration gives freelancers and businesses a way to receive on-chain payments using Solana's stablecoin infrastructure, then convert those funds to local currency or spend via card within the same platform.

Compliance and Regulatory Status

Raenest operates under multiple regulatory frameworks across jurisdictions:

• United States: Registered as a Money Services Business with FinCEN (NMLS ID: 2746973)
• Canada: Registered with FINTRAC (#1443707-1)
• Nigeria: Licensed by the Central Bank of Nigeria for international transfers
• United Kingdom: Regulated as an Electronic Money Institution by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA)

Banking services in the US are provided through Regent Bank (Member FDIC), with pass-through FDIC insurance coverage up to $250,000 applicable to eligible accounts. Investment services are provided through Alpaca Securities, a registered broker-dealer and FINRA/SIPC member.

Funding and Investors

Raenest has raised a total of $14.3 million across three rounds:

• Pre-seed: $700,000
• Seed: $2.6 million
• Series A (February 2025): $11 million, led by QED Investors

The Series A round included participation from Norrsken22, with follow-on investment from Ventures Platform, P1 Ventures, and Seedstars. The funding is being used to deepen presence in Nigeria, secure additional licenses in Egypt, Ghana, Kenya, and the United States, and expand banking partnerships in the US and UK.

QED Investors is a fintech-focused venture firm with a track record of backing companies including Nubank, Credit Karma, and Klarna. Norrsken22 is a Pan-African fund focused on impact-driven technology companies.

Geographic Reach and Expansion

Raenest is available in Colombia, Indonesia, Thailand, Argentina, Vietnam, and across West Africa, including Nigeria, Ivory Coast, Senegal, and Benin. The platform supports nine languages: English, Portuguese, Spanish, French, Indonesian, Thai, Turkish, Vietnamese, and Filipino, reflecting its expansion into Latin America and Southeast Asia alongside its African core market.

The app is available on iOS and Android and carries a 4.6-star rating across both app stores.

Solana Ecosystem Fit

Raenest's relevance to the Solana ecosystem is primarily as a stablecoin payments on-ramp and off-ramp. The platform does not operate as a DeFi protocol or on-chain application, but it uses Solana's network as one of five supported chains for stablecoin inflows. For users in Africa, Latin America, and Southeast Asia who receive on-chain payments in USDC or USDT on Solana, Raenest provides a regulated bridge to fiat conversion, card spending, and local currency withdrawal. This positions it within the broader Solana payments stack alongside other stablecoin-to-fiat infrastructure providers.