The Canada-based company told customers in a May 1 email that it had stopped processing new transactions and integrations and had begun refunding wallet balances.
“As of May 1, 2026, Chimoney has ceased all new transactions and integrations,” the company said in the email. “This is our final operational email.”
Founded in 2022 by Nigerian-Canadian entrepreneur Uchi Uchibeke, Chimoney built a unified API that allowed businesses to send payouts to freelancers, contractors and vendors across Africa, North America and Latin America.
The platform supported payments in 41 currencies through bank transfers, mobile money, airtime, gift cards and stablecoin off-ramps, targeting businesses navigating fragmented payment systems across emerging markets.
The startup joined Techstars Toronto in 2023 and raised about $280,000 in disclosed funding, according to Crunchbase data. Uchibeke, however, said the startup secured close to $1 million when grants and undisclosed funding were included.
Even so, he said the capital was insufficient for a fintech operating across several jurisdictions with high compliance, audit and licensing costs.
“Under $1 million is too thin for a venture-scale fintech across multiple jurisdictions,” Uchibeke said. “I should have either raised meaningfully more or bootstrapped properly with a profitable beachhead.”
The shutdown highlights the growing pressure on African fintech startups as global venture capital funding remains weak and investors increasingly prioritise profitability over growth.
While African startups continue to attract funding, much of the capital flowing into the sector has shifted toward larger, later-stage companies, leaving many early-stage startups struggling to survive.
Investor participation in African startup deals also declined in early 2026, reflecting growing caution among venture capital firms after years of aggressive fintech bets across the continent.
For startups like Chimoney, the challenge has become even tougher because cross-border payment infrastructure businesses require heavy spending on regulation, compliance, treasury management and market expansion long before they achieve scale.
Uchibeke admitted the company struggled to grow its customer base despite building a functional product.
“The product worked. It was distribution,” he said. “I spent too much of my time building and not enough time making sure people knew what we built.”
The company said it informed investors about the planned shutdown in February and notified customers in April while also publishing migration guides for developers before halting transactions on April 30.
According to Chimoney, customer wallet balances are being refunded through a self-service dashboard that will remain active until August 31, 2026.
The company said refunds are expected to be processed within seven to 14 business days.
Unclaimed balances after August will reportedly be transferred to relevant provincial unclaimed property offices in Canada in line with regulatory requirements.
The closure also exposes a broader risk within Africa’s fast-growing fintech ecosystem, where many businesses increasingly depend on startup-built payment infrastructure for core operations.
Businesses that relied on Chimoney’s rails for cross-border payouts will now need to migrate to alternative providers.
Chimoney had attempted to reposition itself in 2025 around AI agent payment infrastructure, allowing AI systems to hold wallets and move money under policy controls.
The company believed the rise of agentic AI and stablecoins could open a new growth opportunity for its infrastructure business.
But Uchibeke said the pivot failed to generate enough traction before the startup ran out of runway.
The company had secured a Payment Service Provider licence under the Bank of Canada’s Retail Payment Activities Act in November 2025, allowing it to hold customer funds. Despite the shutdown, Chimoney’s parent company, Chi Technologies Inc., will remain active and retain the licence under dormant status.
Uchibeke said he is now building a separate startup, APort, focused on requiring AI agents to seek approval before moving money, changing data or carrying out sensitive actions on behalf of businesses.
Chimoney’s collapse adds to a growing list of African-linked startups that have either shut down, downsized or restructured operations over the past two years as funding conditions tighten and investors demand clearer paths to profitability.
