What it sells
Mobile money app for Africa
Business model breakdown
Buyer: who owns the budget?
UnverifiedBusiness owners and finance/payments managers at companies in Senegal/West Africa paying staff or collecting from customers (Wave Business).
Trigger: what makes them buy now?
UnverifiedNeed to pay employees and suppliers, collect cash from outlets and accept payments where most people lack bank accounts.
Workflow: what inputs become what output?
Users deposit and withdraw cash at Wave agents, send money by phone number and pay bills in the app; businesses use bulk payments, in-person merchant payments, cash collections via agents and a checkout API.
Economics: what it saves and how it charges
Consumers deposit/withdraw/bill pay free and pay 1% to send; businesses pay 1% on bulk payments and 1% on merchant payments after the first 20k CFA per day.
Distribution: how it reaches customers
Consumer mobile app plus a physical agent network; sales-led for Wave Business ("Contact sales").
Funding history and coverage
| Round date | Stage | Amount | Investors | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| — | Y Combinator Winter 2012 | — | Y Combinator | ycombinator.com |
Profiles summarize public reporting and company websites. Business-model notes are MaxBC's reading of that material, not confirmed facts; unknowns are left blank rather than guessed. Updated 2026-10-12.