When Joe Kinvi joined Irish startup Touchtech Payments in 2017 as head of finance, the company couldn’t afford his full salary. So Kinvi negotiated stock options instead — a decision that paid off handsomely when Stripe acquired the company just 18 months later. With his newfound financial freedom, Kinvi bootstrapped a side project that would eventually evolve into Borderless, a platform helping Africans in the diaspora invest back home.
Since launching in beta last year, Borderless has processed over $500,000 in transactions, allowing diaspora investors to pool funds into African startups and real estate projects. The U.K.-based platform’s mission? Unlock a share of the $30 billion in migrant savings that often sit idle each year.
From Investment Club to Scalable Platform
Kinvi’s journey began during the 2020 pandemic, when he co-founded Hoaq, an investment club for diaspora and local African angels. Early challenges included frozen accounts, regulatory hurdles, and legal complexities. To navigate these barriers, Hoaq hired legal support and gradually automated its processes — an experience that laid the groundwork for Borderless.
By 2022, Kinvi had left Stripe (and its African subsidiary Paystack) to fully focus on building a tool that digitized every part of collective investing, from onboarding to disbursement. The tool quickly attracted interest from other diaspora groups seeking to invest in startups, real estate, and beyond.
Driving Trust Through Transparency
Borderless now provides backend infrastructure for diaspora collectives, handling member onboarding, cross-border payments, and secure capital deployment. With 100+ communities on its waitlist, the platform is currently live with groups that have already backed over 10 startups and two real estate projects in Kenya, with minimum investments of $1,000 and $5,000, respectively.
To combat the distrust that often hampers diaspora investing — where informal channels sometimes result in significant losses — Borderless routes funds directly to verified sellers, escrow accounts, or lawyers. No funds pass through the hands of collective managers, and compliance is baked into every deal.
“Someone I know sent €200,000 home to build a house,” Kinvi said. “The house was never built.” For many diaspora investors, that risk is all too familiar — a problem Borderless aims to solve.
Tapping Into a Growing Market
Borderless operates under U.K. regulatory cover, allowing it to market investment opportunities without breaching securities laws. The platform currently focuses on startups and real estate, but Kinvi envisions expanding into areas like film and diaspora bonds.
Its business model includes transaction fees, a share of membership dues, and FX spreads — with potential for future revenue from remittance services and asset management tools.
Backers include DFS Lab, Ezra Olubi (Paystack CTO), Olumide Soyombo, and executives from Stripe and Google — many of whom are also users of the platform. To date, Borderless has raised $500,000 in seed funding.
Scaling won’t be without challenges. Today’s vetting process depends heavily on personal networks and trusted group heads. As Borderless grows, it will require more sophisticated identity verification, fraud detection, and legal infrastructure to safeguard its platform.
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But for Kinvi, the mission remains clear: “Most Africans in the diaspora want to go back home someday. To do that, they need a way to invest securely and confidently at scale. That’s what we’re building.”
Disclaimer: The information in this article is for general purposes only and does not constitute financial advice. The author’s views are personal and may not reflect the views of CoinBrief.io. Before making any investment decisions, you should always conduct your own research. Coin Brief is not responsible for any financial losses.
