Many investors, including Google, have contributed $110 million to Nigerian fintech Moniepoint, increasing its valuation to $1 billion and making it a unicorn.
Development Partners International’s African Development Partners (ADP) III fund, a prestigious firm with an emphasis on Africa, spearheaded the Series C investment.
Verod Capital, a well-known African private equity firm, and Google’s Africa Investment Fund are two more new investors. A previous investor, Lightrock, a global impact firm, also took part in the investment round. The company claims that the funds raised would be utilized to accelerate Moniepoint’s expansion throughout Africa and create a single, seamlessly integrated platform for African companies.
Tosin Eniolorunda and Felix Ike founded Moniepoint (previously TeamApt) in 2015 with the primary goal of offering payment and infrastructure solutions to banks and other financial institutions. Moniepoint joined the personal banking industry in August 2023, and in the last year, its customer base has grown by 2,000%, while its revenue has increased at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of more than 150%.
According to Moniepoint, it currently handles more than 800 million transactions, with a monthly total worth of more than US$17 billion.
Adefolarin Ogunsanya, a partner at Development Partners International, explained the reasoning behind their investment by pointing out that Moniepoint has emerged as one of Africa’s most innovative and rapidly expanding businesses.
According to Ogunsanya: “Moniepoint is well positioned to continue its impressive growth trajectory while driving financial inclusion for underserved businesses and individuals across Africa. DPI has a long track record of supporting businesses like Moniepoint to achieve their next stage of scale.
“The company’s combination of innovative technology, fast growth, and positive impact on the continent underpins our conviction in its future success.
“We look forward to working closely with Tosin and his talented team to expand Moniepoint’s customer base by providing businesses and individuals with first-class banking and payment services,” he added.
Nigeria’s more than 200 million citizens, many of whom still lack access to banking and other financial services, are driving the continent’s fastest-growing fintech business. Although investments in Nigerian fintechs have increased in recent years to build and broaden their service offerings, this year’s investment has stalled as African companies face a funding freeze.
