Kili Ventures has announced its fourth investment, backing Jenzy, an African fintech building infrastructure to make cross-border business payments more reliable across the continent.
The investment comes as African businesses increasingly trade across borders but continue to face fragmented banking systems, limited foreign-exchange liquidity and payment delays. Kili Ventures says about one in four B2B payments supporting Africa’s more than $400 billion trade market fails or stalls, creating significant costs for businesses operating across international corridors.
Jenzy is designed to tackle this problem by acting as a reliability and liquidity layer for African B2B payments. Instead of depending on a single payment route, its platform can intelligently route transactions across banking networks, mobile money and regulated stablecoins. The objective is to identify the most effective route for each transaction and improve the chances that funds reach their destination quickly.
This approach is particularly important in African markets where currencies can be difficult to convert and liquidity is often limited. A business may hold money in one local currency while needing to pay a supplier in another country or in US dollars. Such transactions can become expensive and unpredictable when conventional banking channels are slow or lack sufficient liquidity.
Jenzy says it currently supports a growing range of African currencies, including the Nigerian naira, Malawian kwacha, Ghanaian cedi, Angolan kwanza, Mozambican metical and several West and Central African CFA currencies. Its services include over-the-counter liquidity and API-based infrastructure for businesses and financial technology companies.
The company is also targeting fintechs, payment service providers, remittance companies, marketplaces and businesses that need dependable cross-border settlement. By providing access to multiple payment rails, Jenzy aims to reduce the amount of capital businesses have trapped in local markets while improving settlement speed and foreign-exchange execution.
For Kili Ventures, the investment reflects its focus on startups building financial and technological infrastructure for emerging markets. The venture firm has highlighted Jenzy’s early traction, including monthly transaction volumes reaching about $2 million, zero customer churn and a reported $20 million signed pipeline.
The startup was founded by Eniola Ajuwon, Bongani Malaba, Daniel Kinuthia and Faisal Patel. The founders bring experience across cross-border payments, financial infrastructure, technology and international business, giving the company direct exposure to the challenges it is attempting to solve.
Jenzy’s focus comes at a time when Africa’s digital economy is expanding beyond domestic transactions. As companies increasingly buy, sell and operate across multiple African markets, the ability to move money efficiently is becoming just as important as access to customers and technology.
Kili Ventures’ backing could therefore help Jenzy expand its payment and liquidity infrastructure while reaching more businesses across underserved corridors.
The investment also highlights a broader shift in African fintech. The next generation of financial startups may not simply build consumer wallets or payment apps; they may focus on the infrastructure underneath them, solving the complex problems that determine whether money can actually move across borders efficiently.
For Jenzy, that infrastructure challenge represents both a major market gap and an opportunity to become an important part of Africa’s growing cross-border trade ecosystem.
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