Paga securess $10m series B funding for international expansion

Founded in 2009, Paga provides Nigerians with safe and convenient ways of making payments, allowing money to be sent to any phone number for the beneficiary to redeem at a Paga agent or at an ATM via a cardless withdrawal. Customers can also use Paga to deposit money to bank accounts in Nigeria, pay their bills, or top-up mobile phone airtime.

Tayo Oviosu, founder and CEO of Paga, confirmed the funding – which has come from the Global Innovation Fund, Unreasonable Capital and existing investors Adlevo Capital, Goodwell and Omidyar Network, on Twitter, saying the funding would be utilised in expanding the startup into new markets both in Africa and elsewhere.

“At Paga, we are building an ecosystem that enables people to digitally send and receive money, and creating simple financial access for everyone. We do not seek to be a bank, but rather to partner with banks and financial institutions in the markets we operate. We are proud to welcome the Global Innovation Fund as a partner on our journey. We were attracted to them because of their global focus, network to help us achieve our ambition and a clear alignment of values. It is also fantastic that our existing investors remain committed to our strategy and are demonstrating that by their additional investments”, said Oviosu

According to the Global Innovation Fund, “GIF is proud to lead Paga’s Series B2 round,” said Alix Peterson Zwane, GIF’s CEO. “Paga’s mission of helping people ‘make life possible” aligns with our core mission of supporting entrepreneurs and innovators that seek to improve the lives of those living on less than $5 per day. I am pleased that GIF will help enable Paga’s next phase.”

“Our belief in Paga as an effective platform to drive financial inclusion is unwavering,” says ‘Tokunboh Ishmael, Managing Partner at Alitheia Capital, “Paga has shown solid progress, and alongside other investments in our portfolio has played a huge role in our ability to demonstrate that enabling access to essential services for the broad population has both significant financial and developmental impact.”

Paga’s last funding round was back in October 2015, when it secured a US$13 million Series B funding round led by Adlevo Capital. Last month it announced it had hit the nine million user mark.

The investment is the latest in a string of fundraising successes for Nigerian fintech startups, with Mines, Paystack, Wallet.ng, Allpro, Thank U Cash also securing funding recently. South African PoS startup Yoco yesterday announced a US$16 million Series B funding round, firmly establishing fintech as the most popular sector for investors in African tech.