▼ Summary
– Joe Kinvi joined Touchtech Payments in 2017 with partial salary paid in stock, which later converted to Stripe shares, enabling him to found Borderless.
– Borderless helps Africans in the diaspora invest collectively in startups and real estate back home, processing over $500,000 since its beta launch.
– The platform emerged from Hoaq, an investment club Kinvi co-founded, which faced banking and regulatory hurdles before evolving into Borderless.
– Borderless provides backend infrastructure for diaspora collectives, ensuring secure transactions and compliance under U.K. regulations.
– The startup addresses trust issues by routing funds directly to verified entities, aiming to unlock $30 billion in idle migrant savings for productive investments.
Joe Kinvi’s journey from Stripe executive to founder of Borderless highlights how African diaspora communities can transform remittances into strategic investments. His platform enables collective funding of startups and real estate back home, addressing a critical gap in how migrant savings are utilized.
Kinvi’s path began unexpectedly when he joined Irish fintech Touchtech Payments in 2017. Unable to pay his full salary, the company offered equity, a decision that paid off when Stripe acquired the startup. The windfall allowed him to bootstrap his vision: a solution for diaspora investors tired of sending money home without seeing tangible returns.
Borderless emerged from an earlier experiment called Hoaq, an investment club Kinvi co-founded during the pandemic. The group pooled funds from local and diaspora angels but quickly hit roadblocks, frozen accounts, currency issues, and regulatory headaches. Their struggles revealed a systemic problem: Africa’s diaspora sends billions in remittances, yet barely 1% flows into productive assets like businesses or property.
By 2022, Kinvi had left Stripe and Paystack to build a digital solution. Borderless now handles everything from member onboarding to capital deployment, serving as the backend for diaspora investment groups. Over 100 communities are on its waitlist, with active users already funding 10+ startups and two Kenyan real estate projects.
Trust remains the biggest hurdle. Many diaspora investors have horror stories, like Kinvi’s acquaintance who lost €200,000 to a phantom housing project. Borderless mitigates risk by routing funds directly to verified recipients, bypassing intermediaries. Compliance checks are baked into the process, and all transactions fall under U.K. regulatory oversight.
The platform monetizes through transaction fees, membership cuts, and FX spreads. But the real prize? Tapping into the $30 billion in idle migrant savings annually. While remittance apps like LemFi and NALA dominate money transfers, few facilitate long-term investing, a gap Borderless aims to fill.
Investors, including Paystack’s CTO and Stripe alumni, see the potential. For Kinvi, it’s more than returns: “Most Africans abroad plan to return home someday. They need a secure way to build wealth there first.”
Scaling presents challenges, particularly around fraud prevention as the network expands. But if successful, Borderless could redefine how diaspora capital fuels Africa’s growth, one collective investment at a time.
(Source: TechCrunch)
