NextBillion - An Initiative of the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan

By Tage Kene-Okafor

Stax, a startup that allows Africans to buy airtime, send and request money, and transfer funds between accounts via automated USSD codes, has raised a $2.2 million seed extension round.

U.S.-based VC firms World Within Ventures and Noemis Ventures co-led the round joining Anthemis Group, Orange DAO, 500 Startups, Garuda Ventures and GAN Ventures on the cap table.

In a market where internet-enabled app-based banking can reach 300 million subscribers on the continent, USSD technology, predominantly offline and used mainly by feature phones, outpaces it with 850 million connections. This technology allows people to send and receive money, pay for bills and buy data offline, and reports say more than 90% of digital transactions in sub-Saharan Africa are performed on its rails.

Photo courtesy of Olumide Bamgbelu.