Building a $47 million fintech to repair cross-border funds for African travellers is a large feat. But getting previous embassy visas? That’s a bug no line of code can repair. Before launching Timon, co-founders Oluwatomi Ayorinde and Chizaram Ucheaga spent years navigating the frustrations of travelling on a Nigerian passport—from rationing bodily money envelopes in India to watching financial institution playing cards fail in Paris. They channeled these complications into constructing an impartial multi-currency journey card, scaling to over 100,000 customers throughout 16 African markets. But when US crypto accelerator Alliance backed the startup, acquainted border boundaries resurfaced: whereas the funding funds arrived in simply two weeks, an expired US visa meant just one founder might board the aircraft to California. In this version of Digital Nomads, EMMANUEL NWOSU traces how two Nigerian founders relocated to Nairobi to engineer a $47M journey stack—and why bodily borders stay the final word bottleneck for African entrepreneurs.
Securing an invite to Y Combinator (YC), the Silicon Valley startup accelerator, is a milestone for any startup founder—till the logistical hurdle of securing a US visa threatens to derail it.
Oluwatomi Ayorinde, co-founder of Timon, a startup that points playing cards to frequent travellers, learnt this the onerous means in 2016 when his earlier startup, Mobile Forms, was invited to interview for YC’s California headquarters. It was his first time within the US, and he had little or no time to arrange.
Facing a backlog on the American Embassy in Lagos that threatened to expire of time for his or her interview window, Ayorinde and his staff scrambled for assist. Investor Kola Aina of Ventures Platform, which had backed the startup, intervened, in line with Ayorinde, reaching out to contacts who might assist expedite their visa interviews on the US embassy. The embassy ultimately granted the visas with days to spare.
“Have you ever tried calling an embassy line? Nobody picks it,” Ayorinde mentioned.
Mobile Forms didn’t safe admission throughout that cycle, but the expertise left a long-lasting impression. It was one of many many friction factors Ayorinde would encounter whereas travelling on a Nigerian passport—a actuality that led him to resume his US visa even with out instant journey plans.
The journeys that got here earlier than Timon
In 2010, Ayorinde selected India over a grasp’s diploma. He had satisfied his dad and mom to let him pursue a three-month skilled course in Systems, Applications, and Products (SAP) software program, which he thought of a profitable ability on the time. Relatively few individuals had the certification, in line with him, and finding out in India was cheaper than pursuing a grasp’s diploma.
Accessing cash was the issue. His mom relied on Nigerians travelling to India to carry him money. On one event, her pastor delivered it. Ayorinde saved the money in an envelope and spent it steadily.
In 2011, he joined SAP, the German software program firm, and was despatched to the nation for a seven-day work occasion. He spent a full day queuing on the German embassy to submit his utility, and the visa arrived so late that he missed the primary two days, in line with him.
“It was a seven-day event, and when the visa came out, they gave me a visa for that exact seven days,” he mentioned.
Germany additionally uncovered him to the difficulties of spending cash overseas. Ayorinde mentioned he relied on a GTBank greenback card, issued by the Nigerian tier-1 lender, which he might fund by swapping naira for {dollars} via the financial institution. Some funds went via. Others failed.
Chizaram Ucheaga, who would later develop into Ayorinde’s co-founder at Timon, had comparable experiences.
In 2013, he travelled to Kenya for every week to assist a US firm gather knowledge for a medical facility it was supporting. He carried money and relied on his host to pay for issues. His GTBank greenback card labored inconsistently on later journeys to the UK and the US. In 2018, on a visit to France, the cardboard failed at some point, and he handed money to a different traveller who paid with a overseas fintech card.
By then, each founders had skilled the restrictions of Nigerian financial institution playing cards overseas, though their travels had additionally opened them as much as new alternatives.
Travel additionally modified how each males labored. Ayorinde mentioned he conceived the thought for his first enterprise in Kenya, which introduced him again to Nigeria to construct it.
“My best ideas come when I’m not in Nigeria,” Ayorinde mentioned. “I think I started to realise that if I really wanted to rest, it was going out of the environment that I’m already used to and being in a whole different environment. That was rest for me, and that got my brain thinking, because the first idea for my first business was right there in Kenya.”
To afford extra journeys, he stopped planning separate holidays. He prolonged work journeys by three to 5 days and lined the additional prices from financial savings.
Building a enterprise for nomads
During a later go to to Kenya, Ayorinde started to understand what travelling did for his work. Being away from Nigeria gave him room to suppose, meet individuals, and expertise other ways of dwelling. It was throughout that journey that he conceived the thought for his first enterprise, which ultimately introduced him again to Nigeria to construct it.
Over the years, he additionally developed a technique to journey with out spending an excessive amount of. Rather than plan separate holidays, he prolonged work journeys by three to 5 days, utilizing the additional time to discover whereas masking his private bills from financial savings. The UK was an exception. He had cousins who might accommodate him, making spontaneous visits comparatively inexpensive.
Ucheaga mentioned travelling additionally modified his expectations of on a regular basis life. Beyond the issue of constructing funds, he started to note the distinction in public providers and infrastructure between Nigeria and different nations.
“It kind of opened my eyes to see how things work in different places,” he mentioned. “Sometimes Nigeria just sells you the short end of the stick. You just assume that that’s how it is and that’s how it will be forever. But then when you travel around, and you see that people could get a better quality of life, they can demand more from the government, and the government can do better for the people.”
Years later, these experiences would affect the founders’ resolution to construct Timon and ultimately relocate from Nigeria to Kenya, the place they believed they might construct a enterprise serving travellers throughout a number of nations.
Moving to Kenya
South Africa was Ayorinde’s first alternative when he thought of leaving Nigeria. He had visited Cape Town, appreciated it, and secured a South African work allow. He needed someplace near residence, a couple of six-hour flight away. He additionally thought of the UK, but his utility for a Global Talent Visa (GTV) was rejected.
Kenya gained him over. He had offered his earlier enterprise, PayForce (previously CrowdForce), which later got him into YC and was acquired by FairMoney in 2023, so he had financial savings to make the transfer. On a go to to Kenya, he met founders who satisfied him that Nairobi supplied higher alternatives.
“I felt that I connected better with people there,” he mentioned.
He additionally observed that many enterprise capital corporations had their essential places of work there. In Europe, America, or South Africa, he felt he can be “just another taxpayer”.
He returned together with his spouse for 3 weeks over Christmas to check it. By the top, she was satisfied. The couple agreed to spend two to a few years in Kenya, after which spend a couple of years in a number of nations.
Ucheaga was drawn by Kenya’s high quality of life and rising tech ecosystem. He had spent years constructing companies in Nigeria, together with Clymb Technologies, an agent banking startup. But he felt a worldwide journey enterprise wanted a clearer head than Nigeria allowed.
In Kenya, he discovered a special expertise. When electrical energy failed, he mentioned residents might name their energy supplier and have the fault resolved, generally inside half-hour. He additionally discovered that networking occurred outdoors formal enterprise conferences. After work, he might play padel and meet traders or different founders on the court docket.
Relocating, nonetheless, got here with immigration hurdles. Ucheaga mentioned they initially thought of Kenya’s digital nomad allow but ultimately pursued work permits with the assistance of an immigration lawyer.
The transfer additionally gave each founders proximity to traders and a chance to construct Timon, which they launched in 2024, past the Nigerian market.
A mobility downside that wanted an answer
Ayorinde’s thought for Timon got here from a London forex trade store throughout a UK journey. He had gone there to vary money into kilos when he noticed an aged man being issued a journey card. Curious, he requested why the person couldn’t use his common financial institution card. The attendant defined that the cardboard let travellers maintain totally different currencies and trade cash earlier than a visit, avoiding repeated conversion charges.
It planted the thought that playing cards may very well be issued for a particular goal outdoors conventional banks.
“So I would say that travelling gives you better ideas,” Ayorinde mentioned. “You see how people live their lives very differently from what you’re used to. It also sparks conversations and ideas.”
He and Ucheaga had met in 2021 via an entrepreneurship programme at their church. According to Ucheaga, he was the primary individual Ayorinde known as after promoting PayForce. They requested greater than 20 individuals whether or not they nonetheless struggled to pay when travelling overseas. Many mentioned sure. Ucheaga mentioned Timon connects on to Visa, the funds large and card issuing community, reasonably than leaning on financial institution infrastructure, a course of that took greater than 15 months with Visa and a financial institution.
They launched Timon in September 2024. By the second quarter of 2026, it had processed greater than $47 million in transactions and crossed 100,000 customers throughout 16 African markets, Ayorinde told Disrupt Africa. The startup earns income via transaction and repair charges, in addition to revenue-sharing agreements with companions.
Two founders, one visa
In July 2026, Timon secured an undisclosed investment from Alliance, a US-based crypto accelerator. According to Ucheaga, the founders had utilized unsuccessfully twice and practically deserted their third try till an Alliance founder personally inspired them to use once more.
They have been accepted inside hours of the interview. Alliance accomplished its due diligence and wired the cash inside two weeks, Ucheaga mentioned.
“They move fast,” Ucheaga mentioned of US traders. “They have a conviction. They move fast because they won’t lose this big opportunity. It’s almost like they can see into the future.”
Then got here the visa limitation, as Ayorinde faced in 2016. Ucheaga couldn’t attend the in-person classes from Alliance within the US.
“I couldn’t go for the trip because my own B2 visa had expired years ago,” he mentioned. “Sadly, I didn’t have the foresight like Tomi [Ayorinde] did to rush when [US President] Trump was coming in to get his own, so I couldn’t make it. There were some online sessions, so I was able to join that, and it was helpful getting [in touch with] founders who Alliance funded before, who built great stuff, learning from them as well.”
Visa restrictions stay a broader impediment to African mobility. According to the African Development Bank’s 2025 Africa Visa Openness Index, African travellers nonetheless wanted visas upfront for 51.1% of attainable country-to-country journey mixtures inside the continent, up from 47.1% in 2024.
The price of travelling will not be restricted to flights, lodging, and overseas trade (FX) expenses. Delays or restrictions on entry may also decide which skilled alternatives a traveller can pursue in individual.
Ayorinde and Ucheaga have constructed a enterprise that helps Africans spend cash overseas. But the Alliance expertise confirmed the bounds of what they might remedy. Both founders had secured a spot within the accelerator. Only one might make the journey.
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