[Tech in Africa] FairMoney raises $42M in Tiger Global-led Series B

Originally posted on Tech in Africa

By Russel Ayugi

Nigerian fintech startup FairMoney has raised $42 million Series B to raise and diversify its offerings and expand it as a financial hub for users. The round was led by Tiger Global Management and other existing investors in previous rounds such as Newfund, Speedinvest, Flourish Ventures, and DST Partners.

FairMoney was founded by Matthieu Gendreau, Laurin Hainy, and Nicolas Berthozat, and began operating and offering instant loans and bill payments to Nigerian customers. TechCrunch reports that FairMoney disbursed over $93 million loans to its 1.3 million users who have thus far made over 6.5 million loan applications.

2 years ago FairMoney raised €10 million Series A and an additional €1.2 million in 2018. Credit-led Neobank provides loans from $3 to $1000 ranging from days to six months. Small business loans are a prominent service digital banks are starting to offer in Nigeria’s retail sector. According to Hainy, the company will begin servicing loans to SMEs registered in Nigeria.

FairMoney will use the money to consolidate its position in India and Nigeria. The company has made some progress in India, thus far processing over 500,000 loan applications to its over 100,000 unique users. African fintech startups have received record funding recently, with them forming the bulk of unicorns from the continent.

Source: TechCrunch