Stripe helped cross-border payment processor Wave secure unicorn status in a series A round led by Sequoia Heritage at a $1.7bn valuation.

Senegal-based mobile payment processor Wave has raised $200m in a series A round featuring digital payment technology producer Stripe, TechCrunch reported yesterday.

The round, which valued Wave at $1.7bn, was led by Sequoia Heritage, an independent fund affiliated with venture capital firm Sequoia, and included Founders Fund, Ribbit Capital, Partech Africa and Sam Altman, CEO of artificial intelligence research laboratory OpenAI.

The company was spun off by Sendwave, the remittance provider acquired by peer WorldRemit for $500m in August 2020,…