Taxonomy

Africa

New Survey of South African Gig Workers Reveals Significant Financial and Lifestyle Impacts Since The COVID-19 Pandemic Began

Johannesburg, South Africa—July 29, 2020— Flourish Ventures, a global fintech investor helping people achieve financial wellbeing, today published the South African edition of The Digital Hustle: Gig Worker Financial Lives Under Pressure. The report tracks the experiences of more than 600 gig workers, including those who use digital platforms such...

Why We Invested in Apollo Agriculture: Helping Smallholder Farmers Grow in Africa

Traditionally, the transaction costs of serving farmers have been too high to permit commercial models. However, a new wave of technology-driven ventures are trying to…

[Flourish Conversations] Early Stage Funding in Africa A Pulse Check

Entrepreneurs everywhere are dealing with much uncertainty right now, especially in Africa, where capital markets are shallow and collapsing commodity prices pose a double hit to economies dealing with COVID-19. In our discussions with entrepreneurs across the continent, we find that they are understandably anxious about how their companies will...

December 09, 2019

Why We Invested in the Financial Service Innovators Association (FSI): Accelerating Fintech Innovation in Nigeria

By Ameya Upadhyay and David Madden Fintech is booming in Africa right now. In 2018, a third of all venture capital invested in Africa went…

Brad Magrath

[How We Made It In Africa] The journey so far: Brad Magrath, co-founder, Zoona

Brad Magrath is the co-founder and CEO of Zoona, a financial services company that offers money transfers and payment solutions. The company has operations in Zambia, Malawi and Mozambique as well as support offices in South Africa. 1. Tell us about one of the toughest situations you’ve found yourself in...

[The New York Times] He Grew Up on a Farm. Now, He Helps Protect Them.

In their Visionaries series, The New York Times selects people from all over the world who are pushing the boundaries of their fields, from science and technology to culture and sports. In their latest piece, they shine a spotlight on Thomas Njeru, the proud co-founder of Pula. Pula, a Flourish portfolio...

September 20, 2019

Why We Invested in FairMoney: Rebooting Banking in Nigeria

If you ask someone in Lagos if they have a bank account, more likely than not, the answer will be “yes.” You’ll probably get the…

Portfolio

Digital Banking

News

[TechCrunch] FairMoney raises $11 million for its challenger bank for emerging markets

Fintech startup FairMoney is building a challenger bank in Nigeria. The company first started offering microcredit and now plans to expand to current accounts and savings. FairMoney just raised an $11 million Series A round (€10 million) led by Flourish, DST Global partners and existing partners Newfund, Speedinvest and Le...

“GB” Olugbenga Agboola

[TechCrunch] Flutterwave and Alipay partner on payments between Africa and China

Flutterwave, a San Francisco and Lagos-based fintech startup providing a digital payments service and Flourish portfolio company, has partnered with Chinese e-commerce company Alibaba’s Alipay to offer digital payments between Africa and China. TechCrunch's Jake Bright shared a spotlight on the partnership's potential to impact merchants. Alipay is Alibaba’s digital...

[This Day Live] Costa - Why Financial Inclusion is Not Enough Anymore

This July, Flourish held Flourish Startup Bootcamp and the Market Makers events in Lagos where our Managing Partner, Arjuna Costa, spoke to select journalists on what the firm is bringing to Nigeria and Africa and the new trends in fintech. This Day Live's Solomon Elusoji shared the below from Arjuna's discussion...

[Ozy.com] He's Banking the Unbanked in Nigeria and Beyond

Paga's CEO and Founder, Tayo Oviosu, is featured in this article in the rising star section of Ozy.com. In 2009, Tayo Oviosu returned from the US to Nigeria, with the desire to start a company with a big idea. “I knew that whatever I wanted to do had to pass...