Nigerian Fintechs Score Big on the Funding Front as Investors Spot “Final Frontier” Opportunities
By Tom Jackson
We have not even reached the halfway point of 2021, but already it seems nailed on that the year will break all sorts of funding records – with the surge in investments led by the Nigerian fintech space.
The landmark acquisition of Paystack by Stripe back in October seems to have set an unstoppable train in motion, with March bringing huge developments in the space. First Flutterwave became a “unicorn” as its US$170 million funding round took its value beyond the US$1 billion mark. And then digital bank Kuda raised a US$25 million Series A barely four months after raising its seed round.
Ryan Laubscher, chief operating officer (COO) of Kuda, told Disrupt Podcast that investors in these rounds see fintech in Nigeria – and Africa in general – as the “final frontier of untapped opportunity”.
“You’ve got a combination of there being a vast amount of opportunity throughout the continent, let alone Nigeria, and we’re also starting to see regulators becoming a lot more supportive in terms of fostering entrepreneurial growth and initiatives that have the customer’s best interests in mind,” he said.
Photo courtesy of ICT4D.at.
Source: Disrupt Africa (link opens in a new window)
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