Company · Fintech

Baluwo

baluwo.com ↗ ·Barcelona ·Seed

Baluwo is a Barcelona-based fintech operating a "cash-to-goods" remittance platform that lets African migrants in Europe and the US pay for food, electricity, mobile top-ups, construction materials and health services for family members back home, instead of sending cash. Founded in 2016, it partners with over 1,000 local shops and utility/telecom providers across roughly 14-17 African countries and expanded to Latin America in 2024, processing millions of transactions annually.

Founded

2016

Founders

News

Rounds

Investors

SectorsFintech, Remittances, Cash-to-goods payments Start-up MapFintech › Cross-border payments & remittances

Profile updated 30 Jul 2026

Founders

Josep Arroyo

Founder & CEO

Global models 5

Sendwave (Wave Mobile Money)

USA · www.sendwave.com ↗

Digital remittance platform focused on sending money to African countries, the same diaspora-to-Africa transfer corridor Baluwo targets.

$220M+Comparable

WorldRemit (Zepz)

United Kingdom · www.worldremit.com ↗

Digital remittance company serving diaspora communities sending money and airtime/goods to Africa, Asia and Latin America, closely matching Baluwo's cross-border transfer model.

$940M+Comparable

Chipper Cash

USA/Africa · chippercash.com ↗

Cross-border mobile money and payments platform for the African diaspora, overlapping with Baluwo's remittance-to-utility-payment use case.

$300M+Comparable

NALA

Tanzania/UK · nala.money ↗

Digital remittance app enabling diaspora users to send money directly for bills, airtime and goods in Africa, mirroring Baluwo's cash-to-goods approach.

$50M+Comparable

Taptap Send

USA · taptapsend.com ↗

Mobile remittance app built specifically for immigrant diaspora communities sending money and mobile credit to family in Africa and Asia, a direct model comparable to Baluwo.

$150M+Comparable