Chipper Cash, an instant mobile cross-border money transfer company, has raised $13.8 million in Series A financing as it plans to expand its workforce in different geographic areas. The round was co-led by Deciens Capital and Raptor Group. Other participating investors include 500 startups and Liquid 2 Ventures.
22 million of funding raised in two years
Founded in 2018 by the Ghanaian Majid MOUJALED and the Ugandan Ham SERUNJOGI, based in San Francisco, Chipper Cash provides free peer-to-peer payment services in 7 African countries, including Nigeria, Kenya, South Africa and Ghana.
Voluntarily mysterious about the foundations of its business model, Ham SERUNJOGI nevertheless reveals: "We are careful not to divulge all the details about it, but we have built a very solid and sustainable business model around the provision of a free service. "Without going through the advertisements, it is inspired by the "WhatsApp" model. In other words, monetize its merchant service by inviting its users to communicate directly with their banks, insurance companies, airlines, etc. via the application. And if the product evolves, "Chipper is free and will always be free", insist its founders.
1.5 million users and a transaction volume of over $100 million per month
Meanwhile, Chipper Cash, which competes in Nigeria's highly competitive fintech market - a market of 40 million smartphone users - with Paga, Flutterwave, OPay, Palmplay and others, achieved unicorn status in November when Visa took a $200 million minority stake in the company.
The company reports that it now has more than 1.5 million users and a transaction volume of more than $100 million per month. With its latest funding cycle, Chipper Cash has raised a total of $22 million in funding over two years.
The latest funding will enable the startup to recruit 30 people for its operations in San Francisco, Lagos, London, Nairobi and New York.
Fintech, Africa's best-funded technology space
While African startups have surpassed the $2 billion mark raised in 2019, the Fintech sector is the most highly funded technology space in Africa, accounting for 41% of the funds raised by African entrepreneurs. Nigeria is the most developed country in this area: 62 per cent of the funds raised went to Fintechs. A sign that African startups, at least the most mature ones, are increasingly attracting investors. And this despite the crisis…