Hi Fintech friends 👋
Before we dive into what happened in African Fintech this week, let's take a step back and recap some of the events that occurred in African Fintech throughout the year 2023.
💸 Fundraise
South African challenger bank TymeBankraised $77.8 Million. TymeBank claimed to be recording a revenue run rate of over $100 million annually as its business across South Africa and the Philippines is growing at 300,000 new customers monthly. The startup has over 7 million customers.
Kenya based M-KOPA raised $250+ Million debt and equity for its asset financing platform. M-KOPA claimed to have provided over $600 million in cumulative credit for its underbanked customers via a network of over 10,000 agents; 52% of these agents are women.
South Africa based Peach Paymentsraised $31 Million to power digital payments in Africa. The startup experienced exceptional growth in recent years, with revenue increasing more than 650 per cent since 2020, and 80 per cent in 2022 alone.
Nigeria based payment service provider Nombaraised $30 Million, the round, which valued the company at $150+ Million.Over 300,000 businesses from the three segments use at least one Nomba powered product, and according to fintech, it processes $1 billion in monthly transactions.
🤝 Merger and acquisitions
Nigerian credit-led Fintech FairMoneyacquiredPayForce.The transaction was a cash and stock deal in the range of $15 million to $20 million.
Nigerian Crypto exchange startup, Bitmamaacquired Remittance startup Payday. BitMama reportedly offered PayDay investors $1 million worth of equity in the crypto company at a $30 million valuation.
Source; Benjamindada.com
⚰️ Shut Down
Dash, Ghana based Fintech founded in 2019 and raised over $50 million shut down due to fraud and mismanagement of funds. Dash’s financial records revealed that Dash’s CEO had inflated and overstated the number of users and that at least $25 million was missing from the company’s account.
Pivo Africa, a Nigerian-based Neobank for SMEs that raised $2.5 Million from prominent investors like Y-Combinatorshut down due to founder conflicts.
Nigerian startup Lazerpay, which raised $1 Million to build a blockchain-powered solution that enabled businesses to accept payments shut down after failing to secure the necessary funding for survival.
Zazuu, a payment marketplace for remittance services that raised over $2 Million shut down after failing to secure funding.
💰 Venture Funds
African based VC, Founders Factory Africa whose portfolio include Kenyan’s Fintech Lipa Laterraised $114 Million to back more African startups.
Norrsken22, a Pan-African venture capital firm whose portfolio include African Fintechs TymeBank and Shararaised $205 Million to invest in Growth stage African startups.
💼 Layoff
Chippercash laid off employees for the fourth time, Kippa laid off 40 employees, Cellulant laid off 20% of its 634 employees, Copia laid off 25% or 350 members of its workforce and Paystack laid off employees in Europe and Dubai.
💣 Cyber hacks
Hackers stole $6.3 Million from Flutterwave accounts, Patricia lost $2 Million in a security breach, and Interswitch lost $40 Million in a chargeback.
Dear Fintech friends 👋
Now, let us dive into the highlights of what happened in African Fintech this week.
Two African pre-unicorns merged to double down on African commerce.
The Central Bank of the largest populated African country removed restrictions on cryptocurrency transactions.
Two Fintech deals worth over $1 million were announced, including one acquisition.
A $110 million fund was allocated for African startups.
💸Fundraise and Exits
Funding by Countries in Africa 2023; source; Benjamindada.com
💰 Venture Funds
Al Mada Ventures allocated $110M fund for Africans by Africans
🚀 Partnerships & Product Launches
📰 News of the Week
MaxAB and Wasoko Began Africa’s largest tech merger.
Two African e-Commerce and Fintech service providers for traditional retailers, the Egyptian B2B e-commerce startup MaxAB and Wasoko, a Kenya-based e-commerce player with operations in Tanzania, Rwanda, Uganda and Zambia, are going to merge operations.
MaxAB raised over $100 million (including a $55 million Series A and $40 million pre-Series B) last year while Wasoko raised $125 Million last year at a post-money valuation of $625 million.
MaxAB said it has connected suppliers with over 150,000 unique traditional retailers in this food and grocery supply chain across Egypt and Casablanca. Meanwhile, Wasoko claims to serve over 200,000 informal retailers across its six markets. Both companies also offer financing products to the merchants they serve.
📑 Read of the week
2023 wrapped: lessons, fears and hopes from 23 tech leaders (Techcabal) .
Venture Capital in Africa: Investment trends and forecasts (Techcabal) .
African startups are trying to localize cost (benjamindada) .
📖 Other News, Reads, and Media
SECchargedTingo Group CEO Dozy Mmobuosi with massive fraud .
Today the SEC charged Tingo Mobile founder, three affiliated companies with massive fraud and obtained emergency relief.https://t.co/NPdi96q5NT— U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (@SECGov) December 19, 2023
Nigeria’s Central Bankremoved a two-year restriction on cryptocurrency transactions.
In 2021 Pezesha partnered with Marketforce to enable affordable merchant financing
🎥 VIDEO INTERVIEWS/DISCUSSIONS
Innovating Africa Documentary: The Rise of Tech in Nigeria.
Produced by Peace Itimi, The Rise of Tech in Nigeria tells the growth story of the tech scene in Nigeria over the last 15 years. Through raw interviews, it paints a vivid picture of the struggles & triumphs of the industry's early days.
🦉 Tweet of the Week
Every other year in Nigeria - a unicorn is born. Your goal as a VC is make sure you get into that unicorn at less than a $2m dollar valuation so you can return your fund.
Everything else is a long story.— E (@iaboyeji) December 23, 2023
🎯 Fintech Opportunities
Made in Tanzania 🇹🇿 with 💚
