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On the sidelines of the Africa Forward Summit, French development finance institution Proparco has committed $2 million to Cauridor, an Africa-focused fintech building cross-border payment infrastructure. The funding is part of Cauridor’s ongoing Series A funding round and brings its total funding to date to $13 million.
Proparco’s participation comes alongside fellow investors Flourish Ventures and LoftyInc Capital. Cauridor also confirmed that it is working toward closing its Series A round by the end of 2026.
Founded in 2022 and spun out of BNB Transfer Corp, Cauridor was established by Guinean entrepreneurs Dr Oumar Rafiou Barry and Abdoulaye Bah to tackle the persistent inefficiencies that plague cross-border payments on the continent.
The company’s platform connects major international money transfer operators, including Western Union, RIA, Taptap Send, Sendwave and MoneyGram, to local payment networks such as mobile money operators, banks and cash agent networks, focusing on the crucial “last mile” of remittance delivery.
“The support of Proparco marks a significant milestone for Cauridor. Their backing brings not just capital, but the networks, expertise, and long term conviction that will be instrumental as we deepen our infrastructure and expand into new markets,” said Dr Oumar Rafiou Barry, CEO & co-founder of Cauridor.
Cauridor’s mission is to accelerate the digitisation of the financial industry in Africa by merging mobile money operators, banks and merchants in a single platform to enable interoperable local and cross-border transactions. Since its inception, the company has grown to a global team of over 200 employees and brought onboard ex-Flutterwave Global Head of Operations Awa Koné as COO last month.
The fresh capital will be deployed to deepen Cauridor’s capabilities across two areas. According to Proparco, the funding will support the strengthening of Cauridor’s operational and technical capacities, notably through the expansion of its engineering, operations and commercial teams, and will accelerate the company’s geographic expansion into West and Central Africa.
“Proparco is pleased to support this transaction, which is fully aligned with its mandate to promote financial inclusion, digital transformation and private sector development in emerging economies, and to foster the emergence of scalable digital infrastructure serving underserved populations,” said Djalal Khimdjee, Deputy CEO of Proparco.
Remittances constitute a significant source of external financing for many African economies and play a key role in supporting household consumption and financial resilience. By streamlining the infrastructure through which these flows move, Cauridor aims to make the process more affordable and reliable for millions of recipients.
The investment is made under the EU-backed Choose Africa VC programme, with support from the European Union and the European Fund for Sustainable Development Plus (EFSD+), contributing to the EU’s Global Gateway strategy and the Team Europe Initiative IYBA. At the summit, co-organised by France and Kenya in Nairobi, Proparco also invested $20 million in Biovac to help expand its multi-vaccine manufacturing facility.
