How Shiga Is Transforming Blockchain Settlement For Scalable Payment Solutions
Backing a Decentralized Financial Platform Providing Institutions with Secure Tools & Infrastructure for the African Market
Jacky Tsang
Crafting a Compliant Blockchain-Based Framework
International payments between institutions can take up to 5 days to complete as they are processed by FX brokers and correspondent banks — a time lag attributed to the compliance and liquidity processes involved with cross-border transfers. Now, what if that time lag could be reduced from several days to mere minutes?
Plug and Play is thrilled to announce our investment in Shiga, a Nigeria-based startup that acts as an on-chain banking partner and all-in-one platform for institutions seeking to access blockchain-based finance safely and compliantly. The company combines secure economic solutions along with tools for liquidity, custody, and instantaneous settlement. The team at Shiga is committed to utilizing blockchain-based infrastructure to disrupt the traditional guardrails associated with processing digital assets internationally. Shiga’s financial platform has successfully brought its asset processing time to under 10 minutes, with no pre-funding required.
This investment is a reflection of Plug and Play’s broader mission of driving the fintech industry forward, while modernizing the safeguards protecting the digital market. Shiga serves as the compliant bridge between institutions seeking to initiate transactions on a global scale, building a more efficient financial framework in the process.
Why Is This Problem Significant, & How Large Is Its Impact?
As cross-border monetary activity between institutions rises, so does demand for a way for digital assets to be easily used in this activity. However, modern guardrails are currently not built for this. Regulations vary between countries, and fees can accumulate at multiple intermediaries before payments reach their final destination. The problem lies within a deficiency in the international transaction system, and that is exactly what the team at Shiga is attempting to tackle - building guardrails for digital asset infrastructure that the market can own rather than be restricted by.
The company operates in a sector that is both underserved and massive, with the B2B cross-border Pan-African payments market being valued at over $150B annually. Currently, Shiga retains a serviceable market segment of $25B that covers treasury, OTC desk volumes, and key remittances within the Nigeria G7 and GCC Africa corridors. Shiga’s efforts to streamline blockchain-based payments are having a significant impact on the African market as well, with Nigerian banks leveraging the platform for treasury management operations and Naira, the currency of Nigeria, seeing global usage through their stablecoin settlement pilot with Visa and the Pan-African banks in their network.
Partnering with Shiga enables institutions to slash cross-border transaction costs while recovering hundreds of hours lost to traditional payment processing. Additionally, Shiga has expanded its stablecoin payment infrastructure to Telegram, delivering fee processing and financial management tools directly to merchants — a high-impact move across Africa, where Nigeria, Egypt, and Kenya lead in Telegram user rates.
From 24/7 access to stablecoin liquidity and instantaneous currency conversion to unified treasury and custody tools, Shiga is building something that many banks in developing markets are seeking — a global liquidity pool that is blockchain accessible.
Meet the Team Behind Shiga Digital
Abiola Shogbein, Founder & CEO, combines both 5+ years of experience in African blockchain fintech and 12+ years in driving fintech transformation at Barclays, RBC, and BNY Mellon.
Dami Etomi, COO and Co-Founder, brings 10+ years of experience in process and project engineering, driving operational scalability and innovative solutions.
This founding duo covers both sides of institutional blockchain finance, with Abiola’s widespread work and expertise in the fintech industry supplying him with the institutional credibility banks require, and Dami’s multi-faceted engineering knowledge addressing the rigor of scaling and operating a compliant payment infrastructure.
Founder & CEO
“Digital asset infrastructure is redefining finance, and our markets should not inherit that redefinition from somewhere else. Rails built with local expertise are rails the market can own. That is the approach Plug and Play has backed, and we are excited to build it out with them.”
Why We’re Excited to Invest
Shiga sits at a critical infrastructure layer in cross-border finance. By replacing multi-intermediary correspondent bank networks with direct on-chain rails, they redefine the traditional processes that frequent the international payment industry.
The traction metrics confirm clear product-market fit and strong institutional demand. Shiga generates $70K MRR and $1.8M in cumulative revenue from 300+ active customers, backed by an exceptional 85% repeat transaction rate. Institutional clients are not merely testing the platform; sub-10-minute execution speed and reduced cost overhead have converted early pilots into high-frequency recurring transaction volume. In addition to this, an associated DIFC entity with VARA and VASP license applications underway establishes a regulated GCC–Africa base, creating a structural moat that bypasses distributor markups and unlocks one of the fastest-growing international trade corridors.
The level of strategic validation is integral for a business at this stage. Tether fully backed Shiga’s pre-seed round to leverage its distribution network for stablecoins, while Visa is actively piloting Shiga for Pan-African bank settlement. Securing direct backing and distribution alignment from both the world’s largest stablecoin issuer and the premier global card network gives Shiga an unmatched advantage to scale across emerging financial markets, allowing it to seize the reins of modern transaction infrastructure.
Plug and Play is one of the most active VCs globally. Our goal is to fund the teams building the defensible businesses of the future. Join our ecosystem today.
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