Financial service provider enabling a marketplace where members can request and fund emergency needs, SoLo Funds has revealed that it is expanding to Nigeria.
In a bid to further its international growth, Nigeria is SoLo Funds first international market, as the company plans to expand into more international markets in the next 12-18 months.
Speaking on its expansion to Nigeria, the CEO of SoLo Funds Rodney Williams said
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“It is the test case. It is the template. It is the first. We are not stopping with Nigeria, we look at Nigeria as the gateway to the continent. For us to do what we do, we have to partner, we have to leverage many partners to deliver our solution and those partners have to be in the market and be successful in the market. And in Nigeria, we saw many examples of that”.
Owing to the fact that Nigeria has the largest economy in sub-Saharan Africa, with a booming fintech ecosystem, which is largely driven by increasing smartphone penetration and a massive unbanked population, SoLo Funds seeks to tap into the country’s vibrant fintech sector.
With its expansion to Nigeria, the fintech company will bring its community of finance powered by people, where members can request and fund emergency needs.
Founded in 2018 by Rodney Williams and Travis Holoway with its headquarters in Los Angeles, California, United States, SoLo Funds has grown to over one million users.
Since its launch, SoLo has seen 800K loans funded, $400M in transaction volume, a 93% repayment rate, and a median funding time of fewer than 15 minutes, with 82% of its members being from underserved zip codes.
SoLo Funds allows customers to request a cash advance from its community of lenders. Approval takes a few days, which is much longer than competitors, but all fees are optional. It also provides peer-to-peer cash advances that may be suitable for small, non-urgent expenses.
The app gives users more control over the loan than some of its competitors, including the ability to choose a loan amount and repayment date. The app also doesn’t charge mandatory fees, a rarity among cash advance apps. Notably, the app has 4.6 stars across more than 8,000 reviews on Google Play and 4.3 stars across more than 15,000 reviews on the Apple Store.
The company has also issued over $200 million in loans and a total of $400 million in transaction volume through a fintech offering that caters to communities that have historically been economically disenfranchised.
On May 9, 2023, SoLo Funds was chosen as a 2023 CNBC Disruptor 50 company making its founder the 1st founder to receive such a distinction for two different companies.
At 50, the startup was chosen because of its groundbreaking community finance model where its members back each other, enabling people to borrow and lend from each other. With a focus on serving underserved communities, SoLo has promoted innovation and community impact.