Nigeria Lending startup, Lidya raises $8.3 million pre-Series B to scale its operations in existing markets
StartupLagos
by Team Startup Lagos
2y ago
Nigerian based lending startup Lidya has raised a $8.3 million pre-Series B funding round to grow its operations for SMEs across its markets. The funding round was led by Alitheia Capital and supported by others, including Bamboo Capital Partners and Accion Venture Lab. Founded by former Managing Director of Jumia, Tunde Kehinde and former Jumia COO, Ercin Eksin in 2016, Lidya is a Lagos-based startup that provides small business owners access to a working capital they can use to expand their business operations. Lidya uses credit-scoring smart algorithms and technology to predict a customer’s ..read more
Visit website
Business-financing platform, PayHippo raises $1 million Pre-Seed to fund more SMEs in Nigeria
StartupLagos
by Team Startup Lagos
2y ago
Nigerian fintech startup, PayHippo announces that it has closed a $1 million pre-seed round to expand its reach to more Nigerian cities and also build its team of engineers. It also plans to hire a Head of Finance to match the business current growth rate. The round was led by Pan-Africa VCs, Ventures Platform, Future Africa, and Launch Africa. Other investors include Africa-focused VC, Sherpa Ventures; Hustle Fund; and Mercy Corps Venture. Founded in January 2020 by Zach Bijesse (CEO), Chioma Okotcha (COO), and Uche Nnadi (CTO), Payhippo’s goal is to give African small businesses access to fi ..read more
Visit website
Fairmoney raises $42 million Series B round led by Tiger Global, reveals plans on evolving into a full-fledged Neobank
StartupLagos
by Team Startup Lagos
2y ago
Nigerian Micro-lending startup Fairmoney has raised $42 million Series B to expand and diversify offerings for its users and expand to become the preferred financial destination for its users in Nigeria and India. Tiger Global Management led the round. Existing investors from the company’s previous rounds, DST Partners, Flourish Ventures, Newfund, and Speedinvest also participated. Founded in 2017 by Laurin Hainy, Matthieu Gendreau, and Nicolas Berthozat, FairMoney started as an online lender that provides collateral-free instant loans and bill payments to customers in Nigeria. Providing acce ..read more
Visit website
Healthtech startup, MDaaS global secures $2.3million seed extension, launches a new product
StartupLagos
by Team Startup Lagos
2y ago
Nigerian-based diagnostic startup MDaaS Global secured a $2.3 million seed extension funding and announced the launch of its new product, SentinelX. SentinelX is a digital health membership that champions preventive, personalized, and continuous care using proprietary technology. In 2019, MDaaS raised a million-dollar seed round. In addition to the other investments secured over the last five years, the health tech startup has raised a total of $3.7 million. The investors in the round include lead Newtown Partners, who invested via its Imperial Venture Fund, CRI Foundation and return investors ..read more
Visit website
Carbon partners with Visa to offer Debit cards to its customers
StartupLagos
by Team Startup Lagos
2y ago
Carbon, the former money-lending platform turned Neobank, has today announced a five-year partnership with Visa, the world leader in digital payments, to offer both digital and physical issuance of Visa cards to its customers. Carbon is launching Visa debit cards in the third quarter of 2021, roughly a year after shifting from being a leading digital lending company to becoming a digital bank offering a range of financial services including, savings and payments. By leveraging Visa’s payment functionalities, Carbon will deploy an instant issuance process in three key markets including Nigeria ..read more
Visit website
Cowrywise receives license to operate as a Fund/Portfolio Manager from the SEC, becomes the first fintech to do so.
StartupLagos
by Team Startup Lagos
2y ago
Barely a week after issuing the premier license to trade Digital stocks in Nigeria to Chaka, the SEC has now granted Cowrywise, a wealth management startup, license to operate as a Fund/Portfolio Manager.   This also makes Cowrywise the first fintech company to be issued the license and now confirms that Cowrywise’s operations now fall directly under the regulatory scope of the SEC. Before now, the startup used a trustee structure to offer investment opportunities, in partnership with regulated investment management companies like Meristem. Ahmed Razaq – CEO (Left), Edward Popoola ..read more
Visit website
Chaka becomes the first company licensed by the SEC to trade Digital stocks in Nigeria.
StartupLagos
by Team Startup Lagos
3y ago
Chaka has become the first Fintech company to receive the SEC’s Digital Sub-Broker and Sub-Broker Serving Multiple Brokers through a digital platform license. This will enable the fintech company to continue powering digital investments for Nigerian companies, retail investors, and institutional investors. However, It is not clear if this license officially permits Chaka (and other fintechs in the sector) to offer stocks listed in foreign markets to Nigerians. Earlier this year, SEC issued a warning that seemed to declare such offerings as being illegal. 6 months ago, Regulatory body SEC relea ..read more
Visit website
5 books every startup founder should add to their reading list
StartupLagos
by Team Startup Lagos
3y ago
Reading books expands your mind, increases your vocabulary, expands your ability to really think, and helps you to be creative. In the age of constant distractions, finding time to read anything can be challenging but if you’re able to, you should definitely give at least one or two of these books a try. This is the second edition of the “5 books every startup founder should read” series. If you missed the first one, read here. Here are 5 books that I recommend to every startup founder to help them build a better company. (1) Competitive Strategy by Michael Porter Michael Porter is a famous H ..read more
Visit website
Google supports Black Founders and Entrepreneurs in Africa
StartupLagos
by Team Startup Lagos
3y ago
Google has announced new initiatives and programs targeted at African startup founders and entrepreneurs to support them. The programs, which include a $3 million USD Black Founders Fund for African startups and a $3 million USD Google.org grant to help low-income communities develop entrepreneurial skills and funding, will help Black founders grow their businesses not only by providing capital but also by providing access to the best of Google resources. In a further show of support of innovation on the continent, Google has also announced the admission of 15 African startups i ..read more
Visit website
Google announces the 6th class of its Africa-based Startup Accelerator
StartupLagos
by Team Startup Lagos
3y ago
Google has today announced that 15 companies from across the continent have made it to the sixth class of their Google for Startups Accelerator: Africa program. The Google Startups Accelerator: Africa program was launched in 2018 to support the startup ecosystem, and has so far supported 67 startups from 17 African countries who have collectively raised $72M and created 2800 direct jobs. According to Google, this is the most diverse class yet with 47% women co-founder from across seven countries and seven sectors. 60% of companies selected were either Healthcare or Fintech startups. The full l ..read more
Visit website

Follow StartupLagos on FeedSpot

Continue with Google
Continue with Apple
OR