Borderless

Borderless

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Borderless is an all-in-one infrastructure for global diaspora communities, enabling community managers to start, engage, and scale their communities effectively. Whether the community members want to co-invest or stay organized, Borderless provides comprehensive investment and community management tools.


🚀 Impact (May 2025)

→ Processed about $500k in transactions.

→ Launched the webapp with over 100+ communities with an average of 200 members each.
→ Raised over $500k in pre-seed investments.

→ Short-listed by the Africa Development Bank Group - Expression of Interest (EOI).

Read more about the launch in this article by TechCrunch.

Borderless is an all-in-one infrastructure for global diaspora communities, enabling community managers to start, engage, and scale their communities effectively. Whether the community members want to co-invest or stay organized, Borderless provides comprehensive investment and community management tools.


🚀 Impact (May 2025)

→ Processed about $500k in transactions.

→ Launched the webapp with over 100+ communities with an average of 200 members each.
→ Raised over $500k in pre-seed investments.

→ Short-listed by the Africa Development Bank Group - Expression of Interest (EOI).

Read more about the launch in this article by TechCrunch.

Services

Services

Website Design

Web Design

Web Design

Webapp Design

Webapp Design

Role

Role

Lead Product Designer

Lead Product Designer

Year

Year

2024

2024

Industry

Industry

Fintech | Venture Capital

Fintech | Venture Capital

Build Together. Invest Together. Anywhere.

As the sole product designer at Borderless, I led the design of the all-in-one infrastructure platform that empowers African diaspora communities to build wealth together, across borders, asset classes, and trust networks. I was responsible for the end-to-end product strategy, UX architecture, and visual design of a system now powering two communities in venture capital, real estate with over 900 members since our launch in June 2025.

🚀 As of the launch in May 2025, Borderless raised over $500K.

Why Borderless — The Problem To Solve and Why It Matters

Name

The African diaspora is the continent’s largest, most widespread, and most passionate investor base with over 41 million people. They send $96B in remittances annually, yet most of that money lands as one-off remittances or ad-hoc WhatsApp syndicates.

Because there is no shared infrastructure:

  • Community leads juggle Telegram chats, Google Sheets, and manual wires.

  • Members lose 8 %+ in bank fees and opaque FX spreads.

  • Regulators see fragmented trails, freezing accounts and slowing deals.

  • Collective ambitions stall long before the first cheque clears.


    That is why Borderless is being built.

To empower diaspora and local communities to invest, build and grow together. Because Africa’s future isn’t confined within its borders. It will take a global, united effort to unlock its full potential.

The African diaspora is the continent’s largest, most widespread, and most passionate investor base with over 41 million people. They send $96B in remittances annually, yet most of that money lands as one-off remittances or ad-hoc WhatsApp syndicates.

Because there is no shared infrastructure:

  • Community leads juggle Telegram chats, Google Sheets, and manual wires.

  • Members lose 8 %+ in bank fees and opaque FX spreads.

  • Regulators see fragmented trails, freezing accounts and slowing deals.

  • Collective ambitions stall long before the first cheque clears.


    That is why Borderless is being built.

To empower diaspora and local communities to invest, build and grow together. Because Africa’s future isn’t confined within its borders. It will take a global, united effort to unlock its full potential.

The African diaspora is the continent’s largest, most widespread, and most passionate investor base with over 41 million people. They send $96B in remittances annually, yet most of that money lands as one-off remittances or ad-hoc WhatsApp syndicates.

Because there is no shared infrastructure:

  • Community leads juggle Telegram chats, Google Sheets, and manual wires.

  • Members lose 8 %+ in bank fees and opaque FX spreads.

  • Regulators see fragmented trails, freezing accounts and slowing deals.

  • Collective ambitions stall long before the first cheque clears.


    That is why Borderless is being built.

To empower diaspora and local communities to invest, build and grow together. Because Africa’s future isn’t confined within its borders. It will take a global, united effort to unlock its full potential.

Name

Stephen Deng - Co-Founder & GP @ DFSLabs

Stephen Deng - Co-Founder & GP @ DFSLabs

Stephen Deng - Co-Founder & GP @ DFSLabs

Key barriers

  • Fragmented tooling – Telegram, Google Sheets, and manual transfers

  • Compliance drag – KYC, accreditation, FX controls per member

  • Transparency gap – no live status or audit trail for contributions

Key barriers

  • Fragmented tooling – Telegram, Google Sheets, and manual transfers

  • Compliance drag – KYC, accreditation, FX controls per member

  • Transparency gap – no live status or audit trail for contributions

Key barriers

  • Fragmented tooling – Telegram, Google Sheets, and manual transfers

  • Compliance drag – KYC, accreditation, FX controls per member

  • Transparency gap – no live status or audit trail for contributions

Who is Borderless For

  1. Community Managers who need flexible tools to raise capital, engage members, and scale operations.

  2. Community Members looking to join trusted groups, invest with purpose, and grow with their community.

  3. Diaspora Entrepreneurs building capital bridges to their home country.

  1. Community Managers who need flexible tools to raise capital, engage members, and scale operations.

  2. Community Members looking to join trusted groups, invest with purpose, and grow with their community.

  3. Diaspora Entrepreneurs building capital bridges to their home country.


  1. Community Managers who need flexible tools to raise capital, engage members, and scale operations.

  2. Community Members looking to join trusted groups, invest with purpose, and grow with their community.

  3. Diaspora Entrepreneurs building capital bridges to their home country.

Name
Name
Name
Name

Understanding the product and requirements, and working to create the desired solution

Research

  • Competitor & analogue audit: Reviewed AngelList Syndicates, Republic, Roundtable, Fractional

  • Live-user ethnography: Shadowed HoaQ (250-member VC syndicate) for 10 days: observed deal calls, payment chasing, and member onboarding friction.

  • Close collaboration with Founder: Ran weekly sessions with Joe Kinvi (founder & ex-Stripe). Mapped step-by-step flows to create the MVP and iterate ideas.

Research

  • Competitor & analogue audit: Reviewed AngelList Syndicates, Republic, Roundtable, Fractional

  • Live-user ethnography: Shadowed HoaQ (250-member VC syndicate) for 10 days: observed deal calls, payment chasing, and member onboarding friction.

  • Close collaboration with Founder: Ran weekly sessions with Joe Kinvi (founder & ex-Stripe). Mapped step-by-step flows to create the MVP and iterate ideas.

Research

  • Competitor & analogue audit: Reviewed AngelList Syndicates, Republic, Roundtable, Fractional

  • Live-user ethnography: Shadowed HoaQ (250-member VC syndicate) for 10 days: observed deal calls, payment chasing, and member onboarding friction.

  • Close collaboration with Founder: Ran weekly sessions with Joe Kinvi (founder & ex-Stripe). Mapped step-by-step flows to create the MVP and iterate ideas.

Name
Name

Currently, Borderless will launch with live assets in Venture Capital and Real Estate assets with plans to expand to Debt Capital, Diaspora Bonds, Films & Movies, Assets Financing, Commodities and Sports. within a year of post-launch.

The Solution

Name

Borderless replaces Telegram threads, spreadsheets, and manual transfers with a single Collective Hub that shows live deal timelines, and an always-on chat in one dashboard. Investors can explore opportunities first and complete a 45-second KYC check after they choose to Commit, while multi-currency inputs with live FX tooltips let them pay iin 10+ currencies (USD, EUR, GBP, NGN, XOF, XAF, UGX, KES, ZAR, GHC).

Real-time reporting has replaced end-of-month PDFs. Investors see a schedule of upcoming distributions, and a wallet that securely saves their personal and collective funds.

Borderless replaces Telegram threads, spreadsheets, and manual transfers with a single Collective Hub that shows live deal timelines, and an always-on chat in one dashboard. Investors can explore opportunities first and complete a 45-second KYC check after they choose to Commit, while multi-currency inputs with live FX tooltips let them pay iin 10+ currencies (USD, EUR, GBP, NGN, XOF, XAF, UGX, KES, ZAR, GHC).

Real-time reporting has replaced end-of-month PDFs. Investors see a schedule of upcoming distributions, and a wallet that securely saves their personal and collective funds.

Borderless replaces Telegram threads, spreadsheets, and manual transfers with a single Collective Hub that shows live deal timelines, and an always-on chat in one dashboard. Investors can explore opportunities first and complete a 45-second KYC check after they choose to Commit, while multi-currency inputs with live FX tooltips let them pay iin 10+ currencies (USD, EUR, GBP, NGN, XOF, XAF, UGX, KES, ZAR, GHC).

Real-time reporting has replaced end-of-month PDFs. Investors see a schedule of upcoming distributions, and a wallet that securely saves their personal and collective funds.

Timeline

Name

Creating a Collective

Name
Name
Name

Completing the Sophisticated Investor Form

Name

Collectives Page

Name
Name
Name

Investing in an Opportunity (First time)

Name
Name
Name

Managing Assets

Name

Managing Wallet

Name

Mobile Screens

Name

Feedback from Collective Manager, HoaQ

Name

Learnings and Next Steps

Working on Borderless took me into venture finance for the first time. I learnt about Africa’s investment paths, the regulatory issues, and merged those rules to fit into each flow. Supporting engineers, I ensured every screen had a clear process to make money movement clear. Shifting the KYC process to the moment of commitment improved the first-deal completion and removed friction.

Next, we will track the full journey from first visit to first investment to spot drop-offs post-launch, add Paystack and M-Pesa to reach West and East Africa, offer new asset options, and build a native mobile app for on-the-go use.

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