NAIROBI — Global digital asset infrastructure network Checker has raised $8 million (Sh1.04 billion) in fresh funding as it seeks to simplify how financial institutions in emerging markets access stablecoin liquidity and manage cross-border payments.
The round was led by Al Mada Ventures, the investment arm linked to Morocco's sovereign wealth ecosystem and parent of Attijariwafa Bank, alongside Galaxy Ventures and Framework Ventures.
It also attracted participation from DFS Lab, Bitso, Airtm, Onigiri Capital, SNZ Capital and Velocity, as well as individual investors from across Africa, Latin America and Asia, including fintech operators and founders such as Iyin Aboyeji and Gwera Kiwana.
The company, which provides infrastructure connecting fragmented digital asset and payment systems, says the new capital will support expansion of its stablecoin-based settlement network across Africa, Latin America and Asia, where cross-border transactions often rely on slow and costly correspondent banking channels.
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In many emerging markets, businesses and banks still depend on a patchwork of payment providers and informal coordination channels to move money across borders.
The result, according to industry players, is higher costs, delayed settlements and limited scalability for digital financial services.
Checker's model attempts to address this by offering a single application programming interface (API) that connects banks and neobanks to stablecoin liquidity pools, foreign exchange services and cross-border payment rails.
The system is designed to reduce the operational complexity of managing multiple providers while enabling faster settlement and treasury operations.
The company says it has already processed about $3 billion in transactions and works with institutions across Nigeria, Kenya, Tanzania and parts of Francophone West Africa, as well as clients in Latin America.
Africa has become a key growth market for digital assets, driven by high mobile money usage, rising fintech adoption and regulatory shifts such as virtual asset service provider (VASP) frameworks in markets like Kenya and South Africa.
However, liquidity fragmentation and foreign exchange volatility continue to constrain scale.
Despite the momentum, the sector remains closely watched by regulators due to concerns over compliance, capital flows and financial stability risks associated with digital assets.
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The funding will also be used to expand embedded credit and treasury tools for institutions; alongside new automation features aimed at back-office and liquidity management functions.
"Through our thematic investment program, we identified that the primary barrier to scalability for the stablecoin industry is access to liquidity at scale, specifically the friction in fiat on-ramps and off-ramps,"said Omar Laalej, Managing Director, Al Mada Ventures.
"Checker addresses this with a novel orchestration layer that organizes fragmented stablecoin liquidity into a programmable, compliant network. We didn't hesitate to back this exceptionally lean, top-tier
"We're building the network-of-networks infrastructure for the stablecoin era," said Isaac Umejiaku, Head of Africa Sales at Checker.
