Top 5 Nigeria Startup funding news of 2019

2019 was a very exciting year for Nigerian startups. It came with a lot of acquisitions and mergers, a few rough edges and plenty of controversies.

I have taken time to curate the biggest startup news of 2020 in no particular order.

1. Sim shagaya’s uLesson African edtech startup raises $3.1M. Nigerian founder Sim Shagaya is back with a new startup — uLesson — that has raised a $3.1 million seed round led by TLcom Capital. The venture is integrating mobile platforms, SD cards, culture-specific curriculum and a network of tutors to bridge educational gaps for secondary school students in Nigeria and broader Africa. Continue reading…
2. Nigeria’s Interswitch confirms $1B valuation after Visa investment. Nigerian digital payments firm Interswitch confirmed today it has reached unicorn status after Visa acquired a minority equity stake in the firm. “The investment makes Interswitch one of the most valuable African fintech businesses with a valuation of $1 billion. continue reading…
3. Fintech startup, Migo secures $20 million series B funding as it expands to Brazil Migo, formerly Mines.io, a credit-as-a-service digital platform in emerging markets, has completed a series B equity round of $20 million led by Valor Capital Group, a Brazil-focused venture capital firm.This financing comes a year after the startup raised $13 million series A, and will be used to support talent acquisition, Migo’s launch into the Brazilian market, as well as its continued growth in Nigeria. As a cloud-based platform, it enables companies to offer credit to their customers, augmenting traditional bank and payment card infrastructure.
4. Nigerian digital bank startup, Kuda, secures $1.6 million pre-seed funding. Online digital bank startup, Kuda raised $1.6 million in a pre-seed round from angel investors Haresh Aswani, Ragnar Meitern, amongst others. Formerly known as Kudimoney, Kuda launched in 2016 as a lending platform but later rebranded after receiving a banking license from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in June. The startup boasts of having the lowest transfer rates in Nigeria. Continue reading
5. PalmPay launches in Nigeria on $40M round led by China’s Transsion. Africa-focused payment startup PalmPay has launched in Nigeria after raising a $40 million seed round led by Chinese mobile-phone maker Transsion. The investment came via Transsion’s Tecno subsidiary, with participation from China’s NetEase and wireless comms hardware firm Mediatek — a Transsion spokesperson confirmed to TechCrunch. PalmPay had piloted its mobile fintech offering in Nigeria since July, before going live today at a launch in Lagos. The startup aims to become Africa’s largest financial services platform, according to a statement. Continue reading

There you have it. My best startup funding news of 2019. Whats yours? leave a comment below and tell me.