AZA Finance

Powering cross-border growth with trusted FX, treasury, and payout solutions

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AZA (formerly BitPesa) was one of the earliest tech pioneers in Kenya’s "Silicon Savannah": a fintech company with African roots and a global mission to facilitate the flow of currency into and across frontier markets. As the company expanded its product offerings beyond crypto, the name BitPesa and its blockchain-heavy identity began to limit broader growth. The leadership team approached Wunderdogs to lead a full-scale transformation: brand architecture, naming, identity, and collateral. All built to support its next phase.

Breaking the stereotypes

To attract a broader base of investors and partners, the startup needed a brand that felt trusted, agnostic, and scalable. Global markets still held outdated perceptions of investing in Africa. We set out to change that by crafting a brand that reflected the continent’s digital-first future and its fast-emerging role in the global economy.

A global brand with African heritage

Through cultural insight research with our partners in Lagos, we grounded the brand strategy in deep regional understanding. Every element - from architecture to naming to visual identity - was built around their mission of unlocking access to and accelerating growth in frontier markets.

We created the name AZA as a modern, regionally relevant mother brand, tested across employee groups in multiple markets. The identity system was designed to become a recognizable symbol of the continent’s innovation and ambition.

From identity to activation

Beyond brand and naming, we worked closely with AZA to develop a full suite of collateral including sales decks, investor materials, and conference assets, ensuring every touchpoint reflected the new identity with clarity and confidence.

Our impact

BitPesa officially relaunched as AZA, backed by a new strategic and visual toolkit that helped power its next stage of growth. The company secured $15M in growth capital from the Development Bank of Southern Africa, followed by a $20M Series B, and is now recognized as Africa’s largest non-bank currency provider.

In 2024, AZA entered a new chapter—announcing its acquisition by dLocal in a deal valued up to $150M, marking a major milestone in its journey from Nairobi startup to global fintech leader.

The market opportunity

Developing markets are often overlooked by global investors due to outdated perceptions: yet, they represent one of the fastest-growing opportunities for financial infrastructure. With a rising generation of digital natives and increasingly tech-enabled economies, Africa is rapidly becoming a center for financial innovation. AZA’s mission - to facilitate currency flow across these markets - positions it at the core of this transformation.

Brand that opens doors

The rebrand from BitPesa to AZA wasn’t just cosmetic - it was a strategic pivot that removed crypto-first assumptions and opened doors to a broader set of global stakeholders. By creating a brand that felt locally rooted yet globally credible, AZA was able to engage with multinational partners, attract institutional funding, and accelerate its evolution from niche fintech to global currency infrastructure provider.

Core 77 Design Award

Wunderdogs’ work on AZA earned the inaugural Core77 Design Award for Visual Communication—marking the first time the category was introduced and recognizing both strategic and creative excellence.