Investors continue to pump money into Nigerian fintech startups. Many will say when will this stop? People, this will be decades-long. Why? The digitization and transformation of African financial services is still at infancy. Yes, nothing has happened. The African banking sector was merely a rent collector for decades. Now, we are just beginning the redesign.
Of more than $360 billion that moves from consumers to businesses in Nigeria yearly, a huge part remains cash-based. In Oriendu Market in Ovim Abia State, business is all-cash. So, the fintech has not reached my village – and possibly they have not reached yours. Though they are fighting in Lagos, Nairobi, Accra, etc, rural Africa runs on cash.
Tomorrow, big news is coming. A Tekedia Capital (our next investment cycle begins Sept 19, register and join us) portfolio firm will announce a raise. This business run by an amazing young woman will be HUGE. She is a visionary and one of the finest in the continent. Yes, it is fintech but the friction being fixed is unique. We support such innovators.
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Because finance is the operating system of commerce, more money goes into it. That is why NowNow has just raised $13 million!
Nigerian-based fintech startup, NowNow Digital Systems, has raised $13 million in its seed round led by NeoVision Ventures Ltd., DLF Family Office, and Shadi Abdulhadi heralds, which will be used to implement the company’s plans to scale and expand its service offerings across Africa.
NowNow said the fund will be used to improve financial inclusion across Africa by providing financial services to the continent’s unbanked and underbanked.
The CEO & co-founder, NowNow, Sahir Berry, said besides driving financial inclusion across Africa, the new fund will be used to promote financial education as a way of empowering Africans at the last mile.
Yes, if finance is the operating system of commerce, Africa possibly has to fix it before we can redesign most other sectors. Yes, everyone wants to have a means to be paid. And because of that, investors are making friends with fintech builders!
Nigeria-based Fintech Startup, NowNow, Raises $13m in Seed Fund to Scale Operation Across Africa
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If we keep churning out fintech products that are ‘extractive’ in nature, then digitizing and expanding the financial services space will take longer than time than expected. For now the incentives for building are diverging and converging at same time…