Last year saw increased investment by local and international investors in African Fintech ventures with a total of US$284.6 million invested in 2018, making Fintech the most invested sector.
Levelling the playing field for the unbanked and financially underserved in Africa has created opportunities for new ventures to disrupt traditional banks, through Machine Learning and mobile technology. Fintech innovation has moved beyond just having a bank account, disruptive ventures now deliver; mobile payments, credit, remittances, cryptocurrencies, insurance, and investments, creating a new world of data.
Leading fintech services from across the continent will be speaking at Africa Tech Summit London, on June 11 during London Tech Week.
Branch International leverages Machine Learning and mobile technology to assess credit based on a range of smartphone data including GPS data, call logs, contact lists and payments to make personal loans. Branch recently raised US$170 million Series C funding round, the largest ever raised by an African focused venture.
JUMO partners with banks, MNOs and other e-commerce players to deliver financial services and has raised over US$90 million to date. The JUMO platform enables a customer to access savings and loan accounts, and configure the loan by amount, term and payment method.
Flutterwave is focused on helping banks and businesses provide seamless and secure payments and has quickly become a leading player in online payments by processing 60 million transactions worth over US$2 billion. Flutterwave recently completed a Series A Extension round of financing, taking its total funding raised to date to more than US$20 million to date.
Yoco is an African technology company that builds tools and services to help small businesses get paid, run their business better, and grow. Yoco simplifies commerce for SMBs by providing access to card payment acceptance, point-of-sale software and capital and have raised $23 million in funding to date.
BitPesa is a digital foreign exchange and payment platform that leverages Blockchain settlement to significantly lower the cost and increase the speed of business payments to and from frontier markets. BitPesa is a market-maker in every major African currency and was the first Blockchain company to be licensed by the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority and has raised US$15 million in funding.
OneFi is a Nigerian digital financial services platform giving users access to credit, simple payments solutions, high-yield investment opportunities and easy-to-use tools for personal financial management. OneFi has raised US$13.8 million to date and their Carbon app is the largest fully automated smartphone lender in West Africa with over one million downloaded and disbursing just under 2,000 loans per day in Nigeria.
Lidya is a platform for small and medium business lending in emerging markets, targeting businesses who are looking for US$500 to us$50,000 in working capital. Lidya uses close to 100 data points to evaluate businesses, build a credit score unique to each business, and disburse loans in 24 hours or less and has raised US$8.2 million.
“African tech takes centre stage in London, and we are delighted to announce that invited African guests will join Africa Tech Summit London to launch trading at London Stock Exchange on the morning of the London Summit,” said Andrew Fassnidge, Founder of Africa Tech Summit.
Speaking at the event this year, Manji Cheto, Business Development Manager, Africa – Primary Markets, London Stock Exchange, said: “We are delighted to support the Africa Tech Summit. London is home to a fast-growing community of tech firms from across the world choosing our markets to help finance their future development and we are committed to helping companies realise their potential.
“London Stock Exchange Group also has a long history of supporting the development of African capital markets and international investment in African companies. This includes Our Companies to Inspire Africa report, which showcases inspirational and entrepreneurial businesses from a wide variety of countries and industries, including technology, and celebrates the success stories behind one of the world’s fastest growing markets.”
Africa Tech Summit London 2019 takes place at the Leonard Hotel, St Pauls, during London Tech Week and will drive interaction and a future line of sight on Digital Trends: Fintech, Blockchain, Payments and Credit, Mobility, Investing, Mobile and start-ups.
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