Investor Updates: March 29 2022 - CredPal raises $15m to scale BNPL across Africa

CredPal raises $15m to scale BNPL across Africa

Highlights

• CredPal, one of the earliest pioneers of buy now, pay later (BNPL) in Nigeria, has closed a bridge round of $15 million in equity and debt to expand its consumer credit offerings across Africa.
• Per a statement shared by the company, the investment will support its expansion into other African markets, mainly Kenya, Egypt, Ghana, and Cameroon. 
• The startup claims to have over 85,000 active customers and more than 4,000 active merchants.

Source: Nairametrics

Our Takeaway

The BNPL movement is waxing strong across the continent. Lipa Later is one of the early companies in the space in Kenya and there is M-Kopa in Kenya, Uganda, and Nigeria. CDCare, PayQart, and Carbon also play in Nigeria. And in South Africa, there are PayJustNow and Payflex. The adoption of BNPL in Nigeria as a payment option both online and at the point of sale is expected to record a CAGR of 20% from 2021 to 2028.

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Cameroonian e-health startup Waspito raises $2.7m

Highlights

• Cameroonian e-health startup Waspito has raised a $2.7 million seed funding round to grow its user base in its home market and expand to Ivory Coast.
• Founded in 2020, Waspito connects users with medical doctors via instant video consultations from their smartphones. It also provides mobile laboratory services, with a lab technician collecting samples from a user’s home and results received digitally. 
• To date, Waspito has served over 15,000 patients, and it plans to expand to 10 countries in the next four years.

Source: Disrupt Africa

Our Takeaway

Healthcare-focused African startups are increasingly attracting venture capital investment as the continent’s e-health sector booms. As of 2020, there were 180 companies active in Africa’s e-health space, while investment peaked in the first half of 2020 despite the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2021, 55 African e-health startups secured funding from investors. As the African population continues to grow and the need for a nimble approach to healthcare delivery grows, there are strong indications startup numbers and investment levels will continue to soar.  

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Kenya SME-focused fintech Churpy secures $1m seed

Highlights

• Churpy, a fintech startup based in Kenya that helps businesses automate the processes of reconciling incoming payments and invoices, has secured $1 million in seed funding.
• With the fresh investment, the startup plans to expand across Africa by setting up hubs in Egypt, Nigeria, and South Africa for planned continent-wide growth.
• The startup is connected with some of the largest banks in the region–including Citibank, Sidian, Stanbic, and NCBA – through its API, which gives businesses using its SaaS product access to real-time statements and transaction data.

Source: TechCrunch

Our Takeaway

Offline and informal merchants exist all over Africa and account for up to 90% of businesses on the continent. As such, there’s a significantly large market of non-digital SMEs waiting to be tapped by Africa’s budding technology startups. Layering digital solutions on offline SME activity can create more efficiency for merchants, and generate returns for the startups and venture backers while positively contributing to the African economy.