PalmPay Reportedly in Talks to Raise $100M as It Expands Across Africa
TLDR
- PalmPay, the African digital bank fintech, is in talks to raise between $50 million and $100 million in a Series B round
- The company, which launched in Nigeria in 2019, has raised nearly $140 million to date and is now profitable
- PalmPay plans to use the new capital to deepen its reach in Nigeria, scale its business-focused products, and expand into new markets
PalmPay, the African digital bank fintech, is in talks to raise between $50 million and $100 million in a Series B round, according to people familiar with the matter cited by TechCrunch. The round is expected to include both equity and debt. Valuation targets are unclear, but its 2021 raise placed it just below unicorn status.
The company, which launched in Nigeria in 2019, has raised nearly $140 million to date and is now profitable, according to sources. A spokesperson declined to comment on the fundraising but said the company is “in a strong financial position and exploring growth opportunities.”
PalmPay plans to use the new capital to deepen its reach in Nigeria, scale its business-focused products, and expand into new markets in Africa and Asia. The neobank recently launched in Tanzania and Bangladesh, offering device financing and credit products before layering in broader services.
With 35 million registered users, PalmPay now processes 15 million daily transactions, totaling “tens of billions” of dollars annually. The company reported $64 million in 2023 revenue, which has more than doubled since, according to internal sources. The firm’s distribution strategy includes over 1 million merchant agents and a pre-installation partnership with smartphone giant Transsion.
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Points clés à retenir
PalmPay is showing how digital banking can succeed in markets where infrastructure and traditional banking access remain limited. Unlike Western neobanks, PalmPay doesn’t rely solely on apps. It blends mobile banking with a dense physical network of 1 million agents—corner stores, POS vendors, and mobile merchants—who serve over 10 million users monthly. This hybrid model is critical in Nigeria, where a majority of adults operate in the informal economy and lack access to formal financial services. Over 25% of PalmPay’s users had never held a bank account before, and among credit users, that number rises to 60%. PalmPay’s pre-installation deal with Transsion—the top smartphone brand in Africa—further boosts penetration, giving the fintech an edge in user acquisition at the hardware level. Its new cross-border B2B payment API and move into Asia mark the beginning of a broader playbook that could rival other pan-African fintechs like OPay and MNT-Halan. As U.S. and European fintechs recalibrate growth in saturated markets, PalmPay’s expansion model—device-first, cash-flow focused, and distribution-heavy—could define the next wave of neobanking in emerging economies.
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