An African fintech startup, NALA, has acquired $40 million in Series A funding to help fund its international expansion and build its payment rails, which will improve the dependability of payments to Africa.
Benjamin Fernandes, founder and CEO of NALA, confirmed the funding in a statement.
Acrew Capital led the oversubscribed round, in which DST Global, Norrsken22, HOF Capital, Amplo, NYCA Partners, and angel investors Ryan King of Chime and Vlad Tenev of Robinhood also participated.
NALA was established in 2017 to offer local money transfers in Tanzania. The financial startup changed its focus in 2021 to allow international remittances, though.
As per the statement, NALA has raised over $50 million in finance, with this being its second fundraising round in 20 months. The business raised $10 million in 2022.
NALA claims it is working to improve payments throughout the African continent by building the payment rails for the Next Billion.
The firm also facilitates daily payments and business transactions in an increasingly globalised Africa by developing financial solutions powered by the community.
Fernandes claims that user requests for greater financial autonomy were the driving force behind NALA’s decision to provide payment choices.
We’re reinvesting this money to enhance our infrastructure, ensuring reliable, low-cost payments for all. With the launch of our own payment rails and the expansion of our B2B platform Rafiki, we’re not just talking about change, we’re building it,” said Fernandes.
He added that NALA will be able to expand its reach outside of Africa and create a strong payments ecosystem thanks to the new cash.
Lauren Kolodny, the founding partner of Acrew Capital, expressed confidence in Nala’s potential, citing the team’s proficiency in fintech, extensive local knowledge, and ability to foster community as critical success factors.
Kolodny thinks Nala will be in charge of the remittance stream for Africa’s expanding youth population going forward.
We earlier reported that OpenSeed Ventures (OpenSeed VC) has marked the first closure of its $10 million angel-style early-stage fund.
