👨🏿‍🚀TechCabal Daily – Yellow Visa

If you thought the stablecoin hype was dying down, we’ve got news for you: it’s not.

Visa has partnered with Yellow Card, a crypto company that has processed $6 billion in transactions (mostly in USDT and USDC), to bring stablecoin payments to emerging markets. Both companies are testing a new integration on Visa Direct that will allow businesses and individuals to send and receive stablecoins.

While Visa is no newcomer to experimenting with stablecoins, its latest move comes just weeks after Stripe made a big internet splash by launching stablecoin payments in 101 countries, including several markets in Africa. 

Everybody is gung ho about stablecoins because they help businesses solve FX liquidity crunch. Stablecoins are digital versions of fiat money. They are digital tokens backed 1:1 by fiat reserves (like the US dollar), so they keep circulating as long as those reserves hold. That makes it easier and cheaper for businesses in cash-strapped markets to move money without waiting on slow, expensive bank rails.

Regulatory clarity is also making companies take a second look. Countries like Japan, the UK, and Brazil are laying down legal frameworks for stablecoins. The US also passed a recent bill to govern stablecoin issuance and oversight. With more corridors easing up on stablecoins, the legal clarity is giving traditional finance players room to move. What used to feel like crypto’s wild west now has rules, and with the nimbleness of stablecoins, businesses can expand their services faster.

With more traditional finance players committing to the script, stablecoins are starting to look like finance’s next infrastructure layer.

Chpter opens a new chapter for social commerce in Africa

Kenyan startup, Chpter, which helps businesses sell on chat apps like WhatsApp and Instagram, has expanded into 11 new African markets through a deal with fintech company Flutterwave. This expansion to new African markets including Ghana, Egypt, Uganda, and Rwanda, is building on the startup’s presence in Kenya, Nigeria, and South Africa.

 Merchants in these countries will have access to Chpters social commerce infrastructure, enabling them to accept payments in local currencies or USD through mobile money, cards, and bank transfers, while Flutterwave will process and settle the transactions on the backend.

Why this matters: Africa’s commerce is moving into DMs. With the number of WhatsApp users in Africa projected to reach 135.44 million by 2029, e-commerce will no longer be about websites but conversations. Chpter is riding on that wave with 60% of inbound traffic coming from chat apps, and thousands of merchants signing on.

What’s new with AI: Chpter is going AI-first. It has rolled out AI sales and support agents, with 45% of all customer interactions already being handled by bots. Their goal is to push that figure to 80% as the tech improves. The company is also betting that good automation paired with localised pricing could make Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) finally work at scale across Africa. It recently launched Pluto, its WhatsApp API suite that allows developers and businesses to build full customer journeys on WhatsApp.

But will the AI-heavy, subscription-based model prove sticky in these new markets? Chpter is betting on infrastructure and earlier achieved momentum. Can it turn this momentum into staying power across 14 very different African markets?

Nigeria takes one step ahead of Starlink by signing a deal with China’s Galaxy Space to bring faster, satellite-powered internet straight to your digital devices.

Here’s what happened: The National Space Research and Development Agency (NASRDA) has signed an MoU with China’s Galaxy Space to deploy Direct-to-Device (D2D) satellite connectivity across the country. This rollout is expected before the end of 2025 and promises to significantly improve internet access and connectivity in Nigeria, particularly in rural and underserved regions. 

What is D2D anyway? Direct-to-Device (D2D) satellite connectivity skips traditional infrastructure altogether. Think of it like Starlink: iInstead of relying on traditional infrastructure like cell towers, it connects digital devices directly to low-orbit satellites flying overhead. That means even in network dead zones, your device can stay online, chatting, browsing, and transacting.

Why it matters: Until now, Elon Musk’s Starlink has dominated the conversation on fast internet connectivity. While Starlink has only hinted at its direct-to-cell rollout plans in Africa, there is no clear timeline in sight. Galaxy Space is moving fast, and Nigeria could be its continental springboard. 

Starlink may have the hype, but Galaxy Space just got a head start. And if this competition leads to better, cheaper, faster internet, that’s a win for everyone on the ground.

This week, South African solar-as-a-service provider Wetility secured $27m in a structured hybrid of senior and equity capital deal with alternative asset manager Jaltech. (June 18)

Here are other deals for the week:

• Egyptian fintech Octane secured $5.2m in a round that included Shorooq Partners, Algebra Ventures, and Elsewedy Capital Holding. (June 17)
• MyNextCar (MNC), a key fleet enabler for Bolt in South Africa, has raised $10m in its first institutional funding round. London-based Emso Asset Management led the investment with backing from Bolt, Assemble Capital, and E2 Investments. (June 13)
• South African startup Open Access Energy (OAE) closed a $1.8 million seed funding round with participation from E3 Capital, Equator VC, and Factor E Ventures. (June 18)

Follow us on Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn for more funding announcements. Before you go, what are the strategic exits reshaping Africa’s fintech future? Read here.