Palmpay, an African Digital FINTECH bank, talks about collecting from 50 to $ 100 million in the round of series B, in accordance with many sources familiar with this matter.
It is not clear what valuation she hopes to get, but her last round, in 2021, got here among the most precious startups of the continent, estimated at the status of unicorn.
While Palmpay refused to comment on the specifics of collecting funds, the spokesman said that six -year fintech “has a strong financial situation and examining development opportunities.”
According to people familiar with its funds, a company that collected almost $ 140 million in seeds and series A is now profitable.
The latest capital, which is to include each capital and debt, will fuel the expansion of Palmpay: deepening the trail in Nigeria, scaling of a newer offer focused on business and implementing each products in latest markets in Africa and Asia.
Last month, Palmpay announced that he had achieved 15 million each day transactions, driven by 35 million registered users. According to the company, these transactions now add up to “tens of billions of dollars” a 12 months.
Revenues also increased. Palmpay’s revenues – $ 64 million in 2023, according to the Financial Times – have been greater than doubled since then, people familiar with the company’s funds say.
Palmpay introduced to the market in 2019 began in Nigeria, the most populated country in Africa and the most important center of Fintech. At that point, greater than half of the adults in the country were unmanageed, and traditional banks mainly satisfied customers from the remuneration or formal sector, often with the requirements of excluding mass market users.
Palmpay saw the opportunity to reverse this model on your head: build a digital bank from scratch, but to optimize it in terms of the reality of the informal African economy. The company has launched an application containing immediate implementation, zero transfer fees and a growing package of services (including credit, savings, insurance and payments for accounts), which are tailored to the needs of consumers and small firms.
Most importantly, Palmpay was not only about digital acquisition. FinTech has built a huge network in over 1 million small firms and agents who currently serve over 10 million customers every month via the Palmpay business application and devices to the point of sale (for money, payment services).
Other most important fintechs in the country, including Opay, Moniepoint I Paid ParkingThey also adopted a hybrid model, combining digital applications with physical contact points.
Palmpay claims that it processes more transactions than any traditional bank in Nigeria, and 25% of its users claims that it was their first financial account. In the case of credit products offered in cooperation with licensed lenders, this number increases to 60% among borrowers, claims that.
Part of the strong distribution and marketing advantage of Palmpay results from the partnership with Transsion, a Chinese phone manufacturer that dominates the sale of smartphones in Africa, with a market share in greater than 40% in their brands (Tecno and Infinix).
Thanks to the Palmpay partnership, it’s going to initially install its application for chosen funded smartphones, helping to increase the acquisition and involvement of users.
Palmpay, which has turn into one of the most -used fintech applications in the country, is now preparing to repeat its model in latest markets abroad.
The Neobanking platform has expanded to Tanzania and Bangladesh (the first trip outside Africa), where Palmpay enters with financing of devices and consumer loans as wedges before applying subsequent services. (Other African digital banks, including FairMoney, MNT-Halan and Tybank, have expanded their financial services to Asia with various degrees of success).
The company also plans to introduce financing for devices in Nigeria, confirmed by a spokesman.
While the Transsion, which led to Palmpay seeds, stays a strategic partner, the company spokesman claims that FinTech actively explores cooperation with more original equipment manufacturers (OEM).
Gic (Sovereign Property Fund in Singapore) and MediaTek, one of the world’s largest manufacturers of mobile chipset, are some of other investors.
On the business side, Palmpay offers cross -border payments for merchants who want to send and collect payments in Africa via a single API, a repeated point of pain (even with the promise of Stablecouins). This newly launched business function, currently living in Nigeria, Kenya and Tanzania (with southern Africa in the pipeline), is already processing “hundreds of millions of dollars a month”, confirmed the company spokesman.