What Cleva does

Cleva is a cross-border fintech founded in 2023 by former Stripe and AWS engineers Tolu Alabi (CEO) and Philip Adama Abel (CTO), headquartered in Middletown, United States, with primary operations in Nigeria. The company provides a USD-denominated banking platform that enables African freelancers, remote workers, and businesses to receive international payments from clients, employers, and platforms such as Upwork, Deel, and Amazon via ACH or wire transfer, without requiring US residency. The product suite centers on a USD account, a virtual USD card (Cleva Classic Card) that supports Apple Pay and Google Pay, USD savings "Pots" earning up to 3% per annum, a Cleva Points cashback program, a Cleva Business Account, and a value-added services module for mobile data and electricity purchases.

Under the hood, Cleva is a regulated Money Service Business registered with FinCEN and routes funds through licensed U.S.-based financial partners, which is what enables the issuance of USD accounts and virtual cards to non-US residents. The user experience is mobile-first and self-serve, with onboarding via email plus KYC and instant in-app card creation, distributed through Google Play and Apple App Store. Marketing relies on content, community (Ambassadors, Influencers), a $5 referral program, and earned media coverage in TechCrunch, Business Day, Nairametrics, and CB Insights.

Cleva makes money primarily through transaction fees and foreign exchange spreads on USD-to-local-currency conversion, supplemented by card-related interchange and interchange-linked revenue on the Cleva Classic Card. Core rails such as Upwork deposits, local bank transfers, and Cleva-to-Cleva transfers are free, which is consistent with a product-led growth strategy that prioritizes user acquisition and engagement over per-transaction monetization. The company is venture-backed at the pre-seed stage, having raised $1.5 million in January 2024 led by 1984 Ventures, with Y Combinator (W24, $500K), The Raba Partnership, Byld Ventures, FirstCheck Africa, and angels, and was subsequently admitted to the Visa Accelerator. Cleva has stated plans to expand beyond Nigeria into Latin America, Asia, and Canada.

Name

Cleva

Legal name

Cleva

Website

https://www.getcleva.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2023

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

251–500 employees

Short description

Cleva is a US-registered, Nigeria-focused fintech that provides USD bank accounts, virtual dollar cards, and cross-border payment rails for African freelancers, remote workers, and businesses, with stated plans to expand into Latin America, Asia, and Canada.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Digital Banking (Cross-Border USD Banking)

NAICS

Financial Transactions Processing, Reserve, and Clearinghouse Activities (522320)

SIC

Finance Services (6199)

akta.pro primary industry

Multi-Currency Accounts, Wallets & IBAN Services (FSAMAIAG)

akta.pro secondary industries

International / Multi-Currency Wallets (FSAMAEAL), Embedded Payments (Pay-ins, Pay-outs, Wallets) (FSAGALAB)

Keywords

• Cross-border payments
• Digital banking platform
• USD account services
• Virtual dollar cards
• Freelancer fintech

Headquarters

HQ city

Middletown

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. USD Account and Card Services: Revenue generated from transaction fees, exchange rate margins, and potentially monthly maintenance fees for USD accounts and virtual cards. Free local transfers and Cleva-to-Cleva transfers are offered, suggesting revenue comes from currency conversion and international transaction fees.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Cleva provides a mobile-first USD banking platform that enables African individuals and businesses to receive international payments via ACH and wire transfers, hold and convert USD balances, spend globally through a virtual USD card, and earn USD rewards on savings. The platform is delivered through iOS and Android apps with self-serve KYC onboarding, and the company is registered as a Money Service Business (MSB) with FinCEN and processes funds through licensed U.S.-based financial partners.

Product overview

Cleva is a unified fintech platform offering banking services for Africans to receive and manage international USD payments. The core platform centers on a USD account enabling receipt of international payments via ACH/wires, supported by a virtual dollar card (Cleva Classic Card) for global online transactions. The platform includes USD savings (Pots) earning up to 3% annual rewards, a VAS module for mobile data and electricity purchases, business accounts for professional users, and a cashback rewards system (Cleva Points). Users can also benefit from free Upwork deposits, instant currency conversion, and free local/Cleva-to-Cleva transfers.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Cleva USD Account USD-denominated bank account that allows African individuals and businesses to receive international payments via ACH or wire transfers from clients, employers, investors, and platforms such as Upwork, Deel, and Amazon, without requiring U.S. residency.
• Cleva Virtual USD Card (Cleva Classic Card) Virtual dollar card enabling African users (currently Nigerian) to make international online payments on platforms such as Apple Pay, Google Pay, X (Twitter), Upwork, Fiverr, and various AI and developer tools where local bank cards are frequently declined; card is created instantly in the Cleva app without requiring a U.S. bank account.
• Cleva USD Savings (Cleva Pots) USD savings product that lets users hold funds in U.S. dollars and earn up to 3% per annum in USD rewards, with funds available for withdrawal at any time.
• Cleva Business Account Professional USD account issued in the name of an African business, enabling receipt of payments from international customers and management of business expenses via virtual cards.
• Cleva Value-Added Services (VAS) Bill-payment service that lets users purchase mobile data and electricity using cash or Cleva Points.

Named customers8 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration2 records

Feature7 records

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• UpworkcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCleva offers free Upwork deposits with no transaction fees, enabling freelancers to receive their Upwork earnings without any deductions. This is a key product integration for the freelancer segment.
• Licensed U.S.-based Financial PartnerscoreTechnology or IntegrationCleva's funds are securely processed by licensed U.S.-based financial partners, enabling the company to offer USD accounts and banking services to non-US residents.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Grey (Gmoney Africa): Grey is one of Cleva's closest direct competitors — a Nigerian fintech offering USD and GBP accounts with virtual debit cards to Africans receiving international payments, very similar product stack and target market.
• Geegpay: Geegpay provides USD accounts, virtual dollar cards, and international payment tools specifically for Nigerian freelancers and remote workers — essentially identical ICP and value proposition to Cleva.
• LemFi: LemFi offers cross-border multi-currency accounts and remittance for African diaspora and professionals, competing head-on with Cleva for the same user base of African remote workers and freelancers receiving USD.
• Chipper Cash: Pan-African fintech with cross-border payments, multi-currency wallets, and USD receiving capabilities — broader geography than Cleva but overlapping functionality for African freelancers and SMBs.
• Payday (formerly PaydayHQ): Payday offers USD accounts for Nigerians to receive international payments from platforms like Upwork and Deel — near-identical product positioning, ICP, and revenue model to Cleva.

Broad incumbents

• Payoneer: Established global freelancer payment platform with multi-currency receiving accounts for the same African freelancer ICP — a broader incumbent that Cleva effectively disintermediates on cost and local UX.
• Wise (TransferWise): Wise offers multi-currency accounts and international transfers globally; while not Africa-specific, it competes for the same cross-border USD-receiving use case among African remote workers with foreign employers.
• Mercury: US-based digital business banking platform offering USD accounts and virtual cards to startups — serves the overseas employers/payers that ultimately fund Cleva user balances, so sits upstream in the value chain.

Regional players

• Flutterwave: Major African payments infrastructure provider with cross-border collection, virtual accounts, and card products; overlaps with Cleva on the African SMB receiving international payments use case but at a much larger scale.
• Moniepoint: Nigerian merchant-focused fintech providing digital banking and payment tools to African businesses; adjacent ICP and Nigerian fintech peer context for Cleva's Nigeria-focused operations.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/playlist?list=PL_y1xaaafFPZRskrVZqBEHsiNLzLU_GYL&si=D-6LqiQSrgjLoy6i
• Xx.com/clevabanking
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/cleva-banking

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds3 records

Investors8 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Cleva