The financing arrangement starts with an initial $25 million tranche and could increase to more than $50 million through Mars Growth Capital, a joint venture backed by Liquidity and Japan’s MUFG Bank, one of the world’s largest financial institutions.

Nala said the funding will help the company pre-fund transfers, expand into more payment corridors, and support larger businesses using its infrastructure for collections and payouts across emerging markets, Europe, and the United States.

The deal comes at a time when fintech firms handling high payment volumes are increasingly turning to debt financing instead of raising new equity capital.

The approach allows companies to scale liquidity-heavy operations without diluting existing shareholders.

Nala revealed that it still retains more than half of the $40 million it raised in a Series A funding round in 2024, meaning the latest financing will mainly be used to accelerate growth rather than stabilize the company’s balance sheet.

“At some point our business was more than doubling every other quarter,” said Benjamin Fernandes, founder and chief executive of Nala. “We grew faster than we could handle pre-funding for single-direction payments.”

Founded in 2017 as a remittance platform focused on Africans in the diaspora, Nala has gradually expanded beyond consumer transfers into enterprise payments through Rafiki, its business payments infrastructure platform.

The company says its network now connects more than 249 banks and 26 mobile money services across 16 countries.

In recent months, Nala has also deepened its investment in stablecoin-powered payment rails to reduce settlement delays and lower the cost of moving money across borders.

Cross-border payments into emerging markets remain expensive and slow due to fragmented banking systems, foreign exchange costs, and lengthy settlement periods.

Industry players are increasingly exploring stablecoins as a way to speed up transactions and improve liquidity management.

Liquidity said the financing package for Nala was specifically designed around the fintech’s payment flows and liquidity needs rather than following a traditional venture debt structure.

“Our team structured a facility that accounts for Nala’s compliant stablecoin rails and rapid growth in emerging market corridors,” said Paul Brodie, global head of investments at Liquidity.

Nala has been expanding its stablecoin-based infrastructure as global businesses seek quicker and more affordable ways to move money into African and Asian markets.

Earlier this year, the company announced partnerships aimed at enabling businesses to collect US dollars globally and settle instantly in local currencies through regulated payment rails.