Nigerian fintech startup FairMoney has raised $42 million in Series B funding and it aims to provide underbanked people of the country access to digital financial services, according to media reports. The company will use these funds to add new products, which includes savings, stock trading, and crypto.
The financing round was led by Tiger Global, along with DST Partners, Flourish Ventures, Newfund, and Speedinvest. The company offers consumer loans and bank accounts through an app and reportedly has 3.5 million users.
Founded in 2017 by Laurin Hainy, Nico Berthozat and Matthieu Gendreau, FairMoney is using loans as a launching pad for its future bank accounts. It uses an Artificial Intelligence-based (AI) platform that helps to disburse loans to users in seconds without the need for any kind of human intervention. By building this automated platform, they are keeping their primary focus on very large countries like Nigeria and India.
Laurin Hainy told the media, “We are incredibly excited by the opportunities ahead for FairMoney as we enable more underbanked consumers in emerging markets to access digital financial services. Our vision is to build the financial home for our users and this new round of funding will allow us to go deeper into our core markets.
“With this funding, we are well equipped to tap into the global talent pool for more A-players with a growth mindset, and who are hungry to build more impactful, customised and mobile-first financial products designed for emerging markets. We are excited to partner with FairMoney as they build a better financial hub for customers in Nigeria and India. We were impressed by the team and the strong growth to date, and look forward to supporting FairMoney as they continue to scale.”
Image credits- FairMoney