Skip to main content

Nigerian Payments Fintech Startup Cleva Secures $1.5 Million in Pre-Seed Funding

The Y Combinator-backed Nigerian fintech startup has reportedly raised $1.5 million in pre-seed funding. Tolu Alabi, the CEO of Cleva, expressed confidence in her and fellow co-founder Philip Abel’s ability to navigate the competitive fintech market, citing their background as a factor that counts in the startup’s favor.

Cleva Founders ‘Uniquely Qualified’

Nigerian fintech startup Cleva has raised $1.5 million in a pre-seed funding round backed by the U.S. technology startup accelerator Y Combinator. The early-stage venture capital firm, 1984 Ventures, led the round with the participation of The Raba Partnership, Byld Ventures, Firstcheck Africa, and several angel investors.

According to a Techcrunch report, the funding is expected to help the fintech startup build a banking platform that enables both individuals and businesses to receive international payments. Aaron Michel, a partner at 1984 Ventures, expressed confidence in Tolu Alabi and Philip Abel’s stewardship of the startup.

“The team is uniquely qualified to address this given their experience building banking products at Stripe and robust platforms at AWS. The impressive early growth is a testament to the team’s unique capacity to execute across Africa and the U.S.,” Michel said.

The Nigerian Market

Meanwhile, Alabi, who is also the startup’s CEO, is quoted in the report talking up Cleva’s prospects in a market that is already dominated by fintech giants like Flutterwave, Chipper Cash, and others. She also highlighted her and her fellow co-founder’s backgrounds as another factor that counts in the startup’s favor as it targets a share of the $18 billion market.

“We’re starting with Nigeria because we know the market and it’s also a big market. But we feel like because of our backgrounds, we’re very well positioned to solve this problem at a global scale,” said the CEO.

To support this assertion, Alabi revealed that in the four months following its launch, the fintech startup has helped thousands of Nigerians open U.S.-based accounts. She added that Cleva now processes over $1 million in monthly payments and has experienced a 100% month-on-month revenue growth.

Register your email here to get a weekly update on African news sent to your inbox:

What are your thoughts on this story? Let us know what you think in the comments section below.



from Bitcoin News https://ift.tt/j4y8UPZ
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Mt Gox Creditors Updated, Trustee Says Rehabilitation Custodian Is ‘Currently Preparing to Make Repayments’

On August 31, 2022, the Mt Gox trustee Nobuaki Kobayashi explained in a recent letter that the rehabilitation custodian is “currently preparing to make repayments” to Mt Gox creditors. Trustee Updates Mt Gox Creditors — Repayment Date and Exchange Still Unknown Last week speculation and rumors concerning the release of 140K bitcoin ( BTC ) from Mt Gox littered social media platforms and headlines. Bitcoin.com News covered the situation six days ago as a number of people and Mt Gox creditors called the rumors “ fake news .” During that same period of time, a bitcoin whale transferred 10,000 BTC to unknown wallets, and a 2018 annotation , heuristics, and clustering methods show the funds likely originated from the June 2011 Mt Gox hacks. Following the mysterious whale transfer, last Wednesday, Mt Gox published an official update from the court trustee Nobuaki Kobayashi that explains the court is “currently preparing to make repayments” to creditors. Mt Gox creditors have been wait...
Post a Comment
Read more

Fidelity Discusses Bitcoin as Portfolio Insurance — Could Soon Stand in ‘Stark Contrast’ to Path Fiat Currencies Take

Fidelity Digital Assets, a subsidiary of Fidelity Investments, says that bitcoin could be considered portfolio insurance. The firm notes that the cryptocurrency “may soon stand in stark contrast to the path that the rest of the world and fiat currencies may take — namely the path of increased supply, additional currency creation, and central bank balance sheet expansion.” Fidelity Says Bitcoin Could Be Portfolio Insurance Fidelity Digital Assets, a subsidiary of Fidelity Investments, recently published a research study titled “The Rising Dollar and Bitcoin.” The research outlines “how bitcoin could be considered portfolio insurance” as the rising dollar impacts global currency markets. “The strengthening U.S. dollar is wreaking havoc among other countries and may put pressure on the Federal Reserve to soon reverse its tightening monetary actions, something that has precedent based on 1985’s Plaza Accord,” Fidelity explained. In addition, “more monetary debasement may be needed to ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Economists Discuss Russia, China Potentially Developing Gold-Backed Currency That Could Undermine US Dollar

Economists have weighed in on reports that China and Russia may be developing a new gold-backed currency that could undermine the U.S. dollar’s status as the world’s primary reserve currency. Russia and China May Be Developing Gold-Backed Currency Several experts have shared their views on Russia and China potentially creating a new gold-baked currency, Fox Business reported Saturday, emphasizing that China has been buying up huge quantities of gold while Russia was forced off the U.S. dollar due to sanctions imposed on the country following its invasion of Ukraine. The news outlet noted that some experts have cautioned that these moves, along with the closer relationship that has developed between Moscow and Beijing, point to the likelihood of China attempting to launch a gold-backed currency. However, neither Russia nor China has officially confirmed plans for such a currency. Craig Singleton, senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and a former U.S. diplomat,...
Post a Comment
Read more