Wala

Crypto-powered payments app.

Epitaph

“Here lies Wala. Its Dala token let unbanked users in South Africa and Uganda send money by phone, 150,000 of them within months. But cash-in rails kept failing, scammers gamed the rewards, and eight months pitching 100 investors through crypto winter raised nothing. It switched off in June 2019.”

Overview

Born: 2017 (Year)
Died: July 2019 (Month)
Lifespan: 2 years
Fate: Shut down
Headquarters: 🇿🇦 South Africa
Category: Crypto & Web3, Fintech
Stage at death: Seed
Primary cause: Funding or runway
Contributing causes: Infrastructure dependency, Execution

Death certificate

Timeline

2017Founded
Wala launches as a crypto-powered payments app in South Africa and Uganda
2017Wala secures backing from Newtown Partners
2018Wala raises about $1.2M through a sale of its Dala utility token
2019CEO spends roughly eight months pitching 100+ investors without securing new funding
24 June 2019Wala turns off its app entirely
July 2019Shutdown widely reported by CoinDesk, Disrupt Africa and others

Autopsy report

Why did Wala shut down?

South African crypto-payments startup Wala, maker of the Dala token, shut down its app entirely on June 24, 2019 after failing to raise further funding during a broader crypto-investment downturn; founder Tricia Martinez pitched over 100 investors for eight months without success.

What Wala attempted

Wala built a crypto-powered payments app (using its Dala utility token) letting users in South Africa and Uganda send and receive money via mobile, targeting the unbanked.

What worked

Wala grew to over 150,000 users within months of launch and raised about $1.2M via a Dala token sale after backing from Newtown Partners.

Early warning signs

Reward-system abuse by scammers forced repeated model changes; partner payment infrastructure frequently failed due to poor connectivity, eroding user trust; the company was fundraising through a 'crypto winter' with declining investor interest; team cuts and deposit shutdowns preceded the full closure.

What happened

Infrastructure failures at cash-in/cash-out partners repeatedly blocked user transactions and damaged trust, while a wave of reward-abuse forced product changes. CEO Tricia Martinez spent roughly eight months pitching 100+ investors without securing new capital amid a crypto-industry funding slowdown, leading the company to wind down operations and turn off the app on June 24, 2019.

Lessons for future builders

Strong early adoption means little when the rails you depend on keep failing and the funding climate turns. Harden partner infrastructure and abuse controls before chasing growth, and avoid a capital-hungry model whose survival rests on the next round closing.