Leading Ghanaian Fintech Zeepay, has today announced completion of a USD7.9 million Series A.0 funding.
The funding is a hybrid of both equity and balance sheet funds to support its operations.
Zeepay enables digital remittances from the diaspora to mobile wallets, bank accounts and visa cards across 20 markets in Africa.
The fundraise was led by I&P, an impact investing group with over USD250m in assets under management in the amount of USD3 million, and supported by ARK Holdings, a privately held family investment portfolio on behalf of Andrew Takyi-Appiah (Managing Director) and Zoe Takyi-Appiah in the amount of USD800,000.
GOODsoil VC, an African-focused early-stage venture capital firm committed a follow-on investment to the tune of USD800,000 and were advised by Obsidian Achernar, a financial services firm licensed by Bank of Ghana.
The transaction advisors for this raise were Verdant Capital and JLD & MB legal Consultancy. The company raised a debt of USD3.3 million to drive balance sheet activities mainly for liquidity purposes which was led by Absa Bank Ghana in the amount of USD1.8 million and USD1.5 million supported by First National Bank Ghana.
Zeepay, prior to the fund raise had efficiently deployed a total of about USD450,000 since its go-to-market in May 2016 to achieve a cumulative average growth rate of about 146 percent during the 5 years leading to these transactions.
‘An exciting story on the continent, full of hope and inspiration for the New African – that is the young African looking to chart their own path through startups across the Continent”, said Andrew Takyi-Appiah, Managing Director and Founder of Zeepay.
He added that: “Our raise of USD7.9 million in Series A.0 gives Zeepay a strong capital table, ahead of closing our Series A.5 in the coming months. I am delighted to mention that the raise is coming at a time when we have successfully moved into our new Commercial Property in Accra.
Our performance, I believe, is attributable to the Grace of God. Indeed, it is my wish that our Founding Chairman, Dr. Anthony Kwasi Appiah, was here today as we sign this deal. He played a pivotal role in getting the company to where it is today.
May his soul continue to rest in peace. I would also like to take the opportunity to thank Mr. Kwame Achampong-Kyei and the GLICO Group for their diligent support over the last 5years.”
Zeepay Chairman Mr. Yankey noted: “Our strategy remains to drive our remittance to digital assets agenda across Africa and the Caribbean and we are excited by the rate of expansion. We have a number of strategic acquisitions lined up and anticipate closing before year end.
We look forward to being able to expand our operations beyond our current 20 countries and increase our active 30-day business from 13 markets to 20 plus markets across Africa. Indeed, what we celebrate today could not have been possible without the passing of the Payment Systems Act 2019, which has been a very progressive Government initiative.”
Ruth Amenu, Chairperson, Zeepay UK mentioned “the additional funding is a landmark for a wholly African owned Company, and a testament of how technology has democratised the world to give Zeepay a seat at the table.
For a business that started from such humble beginnings, this story is remarkable and inspiring. It is my prayer that this motivates the African Youth that “It is possible to succeed when you put your mind to it”.
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Baafour Otu-Boateng, Investment Director at I&P said: “Zeepay has proven itself unique in its ability to take a leading position in the rapidly growing world of African fintechs while delivering profitability.
We are excited to partner with a management team that has demonstrated a robust track record of delivering innovative products and services that transform the remittance and mobile money ecosystems. As an impact investor, we look forward to supporting Zeepay’s remarkable growth story as the company deepens financial inclusion for millions of users across Africa.”
Ashley Thompson-MacCarthy, CEO at Obsidian Achernar remarked: “We are delighted to deepen our partnership with Andrew and the incredible Zeepay team, as they scale and roll out mobile money and remittance services across the continent.
With remittance flows exhibiting considerable resilience in times of pandemic-induced disruption, Zeepay has grown from strength-to-strength and the current fundraise is a testament to the Company’s value and potential.
As an Africa-focused financial services firm, we are driven by an unyielding commitment to contribute to the creation and furtherance of lasting economic growth and development on the continent and are excited to work together with an entity which shares our ethos.
Merene Benyah, Founding Partner of JLD & MB Legal Consultancy, mentioned: “We are extremely proud of our client Zeepay for this landmark raise and pleased to have supported Zeepay since its inception in 2014.
Zeepay is a strong brand and comes to the transaction with a lot of experience and insight. The successful close of both debt and equity at the time when most markets have contracted is a strong indication of the trajectory that the company is on. We believe their success today will put Ghana once again on the world map and confirm Zeepay as a strong contender in the Fintech space.
According to Verdant Capital, Zeepay has the potential to transform how Africans implement payments across borders and domestically and how these payments are integrated into value-added services such as credit and insurance.
Zeepay has built a formidable market position in its anchor market of Ghana, which it is now replicating in synergistic markets across the Continent. Verdant expects this strategy to continue to drive rapid revenue growth, profitability and financial inclusion.
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