Stablecoin payments infrastructure startup Checker has secured $8 million in equity seed funding to expand its operations across Africa, Asia and Latin America. The round positions the company to capitalize on emerging regulatory frameworks for digital assets across African markets.
Galaxy Ventures, Al Mada Ventures (the venture arm of Morocco's royal family investment group), and Framework Ventures led the funding round. The round attracted participation from financial institutions spanning three continents, including DFS Lab, Bitso, Airtm, Onigiri Capital, SNZ Capital, and Velocity Capital.
Industry Veterans Back the Round
The funding round drew significant participation from operators within Africa's technology ecosystem. Iyin Aboyeji, co-founder of Flutterwave, joined the round alongside Gwera Kiwana, former VP of Partnerships and Blockchain Payments at Onafriq. Justin Ziegler, co-founder of Juicyway, also participated, along with unnamed investors from Stripe and Tala.
The timing aligns with evolving regulatory landscapes across African markets. Kenya introduced its Virtual Asset Service Provider (VASP) framework in 2025 and released draft regulations in 2026 to operationalize the framework. Ghana's Parliament passed similar VASP legislation establishing formal regulatory frameworks for virtual assets.
Regulatory Clarity Drives Strategy
As African regulators formalize rules for stablecoins and virtual asset service providers, Checker positions itself as a compliant orchestration layer for financial institutions. The startup believes working with regulated entities will establish trust in stablecoin-based payment systems.
"This funding allows us to accelerate our mission to enable financial institutions from Brazil and Kenya, to Hong Kong and the United States, to transform how foreign exchange, payments, trading, and investment products are built. We are incredibly grateful for our customers and investors' trust," said Jack Chong, CEO of Checker.
Product Expansion Plans
Checker plans to use the funding to deepen global payments coverage and connect additional markets. The company will build embedded borrowing and lending products designed to reduce pre-funding requirements for financial institution customers.
The startup also intends to launch artificial intelligence agents focused on treasury management and back-office operations. These AI tools will include predictive analytics capabilities specifically designed for financial institutions operating in the emerging AI landscape.
Technical Infrastructure
Founded in 2025 by Jack Chong, Nathan Crocker, Justin McMahan, and Michael Zaczyk, Checker builds infrastructure enabling regulated financial institutions to access global stablecoin liquidity through Application Programming Interface (API) integration. Banks, remittance providers, and neobanks can connect to stablecoin payment rails without individual integrations across multiple providers.
Isaac Umejiaku, Head of Africa sales at Checker, described the company's approach as building network-of-networks infrastructure for the stablecoin era. The single integration model connects African financial institutions to multiple payment providers across borders, simplifying access to global stablecoin liquidity pools.