Moniepoint has raised an additional $90 million in investment to accelerate its African expansion plans, taking its latest funding round to $200 million.The company plans to use the funds in its core market of Nigeria, as well as to expand into new markets like the UK and Kenya.The new funding values Moniepoint at more than $1 billion and adds to the $110 million the startup said it raised last year.Visa Inc.-backed fintech Moniepoint has raised an additional $90 million in investment to accelerate the startup’s African expansion plans, taking its latest funding round to $200 million.The round was backed by private equity and strategic investors including Visa, Development Partners International LLP, Leapfrog, and Alphabet Inc.’s Google Africa Investment Fund, Ross Strike, Moniepoint’s senior vice president said in an interview.“We have seen more interest coming slowly from global investors, especially those that have seen other emerging markets, willing to underwrite the African growth story,” said Strike.
The company plans to use the funds in its core market of Nigeria, as well as to expand into new markets like the UK and Kenya.Strike said the round values Moniepoint at more than $1 billion, but declined to disclose a more precise figure. The new funding adds to the $110 million the startup said it raised last year.Founded in 2015 by Tosin Eniolorunda in Lagos, Nigeria, Moniepoint provides payments, banking and remittance services and has grown to process more than $250 billion in transactions a year. Most of its business comes from Africa’s most populous nation, Nigeria, but the company seeks to be operational in five African countries in the medium to longer term, Strike said.Africa has the world’s fastest-growing and youngest population that is increasingly turning to technology to access services like banking and entertainment.
Several Nigerian fintech startups — including Flutterwave, Interswich and Opay — have attracted significant funding in recent years
