Lagos

Kuda Transaction Screen Card

Nigerian online-only bank startup Kuda raises $1.6M

Nigerian fintech startup Kuda — a digital-only retail bank — has raised $1.6 million in pre-seed funding. The Lagos and London-based company recently launched the beta version of its online mobile finance platform. Kuda also received its banking license from the Nigerian Central Bank, giving it a distinction compared to Read more…

By Aakash Kothari, ago
DHL Africa eShop Stores

DHL expands Africa eShop online retail app to 34 countries

DHL  has expanded its DHL Africa eShop business to 13 additional markets, upping the presence of the global shipping company’s e-commerce platform to 34 African countries. DHL  href=”https://techcrunch.com/2019/04/11/dhl-launches-africa-eshop-app-for-global-retailers-to-sell-into-africa/”>went live with the digital retail app in April, bringing more than 200 U.S. and U.K. sellers — from Neiman Marcus to Carters — Read more…

By Aakash Kothari, ago
SF based African fintech startup Chipper Cash expands to Nigeria

SF based African fintech startup Chipper Cash expands to Nigeria

The African no-fee, cross-border payment startup Chipper Cash has expanded to Nigeria. The San Francisco based startup, with offices in Ghana and Kenya, will offer its P2P payment service and app in Africa’s most populous nation in partnership with PayStack—the payment gateway company. Paystack CEO Shola Akinlade confirmed the collaboration. Chipper Read more…

By Aakash Kothari, ago
Tahira Dosani Accion Venture Lab I

Accion Venture Lab launches $23M inclusive fintech startup fund

Accion Venture Lab—the seed-stage investment arm of non-profit Accion—has raised $23 million for a new inclusive fintech startup fund. The Accion Venture Lab Limited Partnership, as its called, will make seed-stage investments in inclusive fintech startups, defined as ventures that “that leverage technology to increase the reach, quality, and affordability Read more…

By Aakash Kothari, ago
Ampersand Africa e motorcycle

Africa Roundup: Goldman backs Kobo360, Rwanda commits to EVs, Interswitch IPO update

Nigerian freight logistics startup Kobo360 raised a $20 million Series A round led by Goldman Sachs and $10 million in working capital financing from Nigerian commercial banks. The company — with an Uber-like app that connects truckers and companies to delivery services — will use the funds to upgrade its platform and expand to Read more…

By Aakash Kothari, ago
Interswitch Quickteller

Update on Nigerian fintech firm Interswitch and its speculative IPO

Nigerian fintech firm Interswitch has been circulating in business news around a possible IPO on the London Stock Exchange. Last month Bloomberg News ran a story—based on unnamed sources—reporting the financial services firm had hired investment banks to go public on the LSE later in 2019. The piece spurred additional Read more…

By Aakash Kothari, ago
Obi Ozor Ife Oyedele II Kobo360 Co Founders Office Shot

Nigerian logistics startup Kobo360 raises $30M backed by Goldman Sachs

Nigerian freight logistics startup Kobo360 has raised a $20 million Series A round led by Goldman Sachs and $10 million in working capital financing from Nigerian commercial banks. The company — with an Uber -like app that connects truckers and companies to delivery services — will use the funds to Read more…

By Aakash Kothari, ago
Africa Roundup: Canal+ acquires ROK, Flutterwave and Alipay partner, OPay raises $50M

Africa Roundup: Canal+ acquires ROK, Flutterwave and Alipay partner, OPay raises $50M

in July, French television company Canal+ acquired the ROK film studio from VOD company IROKOtv. Canal+ would not disclose the acquisition price, but confirmed there was a cash component of the deal. Founded by Jason Njoku  in 2010 — and backed by $45 million  in VC — IROKOtv boasts the world’s largest online catalog Read more…

By Aakash Kothari, ago
Carbon Financial Results 2018 Nigeria Fintech II

Why this Nigerian fintech startup is volunteering audited financials

Nigerian fintech firm Carbon — an early stage financial services startup based in Lagos — has posted financials audited by KPMG on its website. This comes four months after the company obtained a credit rating as a pre-IPO venture. Carbon — which recently rebranded its OneFi holding company and PayLater Read more…

By Aakash Kothari, ago
Flutterwave and Alipay partner on payments between Africa and China

Flutterwave and Alipay partner on payments between Africa and China

San Francisco and Lagos based fintech startup Flutterwave has partnered with Chinese e-commerce company Alibaba to offer digital payments between Alipay and African merchants. Flutterwave is a Nigerian founded B2B payments service (primarily) for companies in Africa to pay other companies on the continent and abroad. Alipay is Alibaba’s digital Read more…

By Aakash Kothari, ago