Fintech

Nigerian Fintech Startup, Payhippo, Secures $1m in Pre-seed Funding

Lagos-based Fintech startup, Payhippo, which provides loans to small businesses in Africa in under 3 hours has secured $1m pre-seed funding led by Ventures Platform, Future Africa, Launch Africa, Sherpa Ventures, and DFS Lab. International investors Hustle Fund and Mercy Corps Ventures also invested.

Payhippo had prior Friends and Family backing from notable Nigerian angel investors and from early-stage venture builder — Aidi Ventures.

“Small businesses are at the core of Africa’s economic growth and we are thrilled to partner with Zach, Chioma & Uche as they build Payhippo. They are essentially bridging the $158B SME financing gap,” commented Kola Aina — General Partner, Ventures Platform Fund.

The market size for SME lending in Nigeria is $46B. And Payhippo’s founders have a personal connection to this market opportunity.

Read also: Cellulant launches new identity and, commits to accelerating payments digitization in Africa

“I helped run my family’s business in Nigeria and I know how tough financing can be for SMEs in Nigeria. That’s why I went to work in microfinance policy. But I saw that there still that there was still such a big need for SMEs in Nigeria and the continent.” Chioma Okotcha, Payhippo Co-founder and COO

Most of these businesses are creditworthy, but traditional banks and lenders don’t lend to them because there are no credit scores and collateral requirements are too high.


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That’s why Payhippo assesses businesses, builds their Payhippo Scores, and provides financing to them.

“I am proud of our platform. There are endless issues that Nigerian SMEs experience with financing but we’ve been taking it one step at a time. I talk to our borrowers every day to get product feedback. Our borrowers tell us that our loans are more seamless than anything else they have seen in the market.” Uche Nnadi, Payhippo Co-founder, and CTO.

“Payhippo’s execution has been phenomenal and we are excited to support the impact they will create across the chronically underserved SME funding landscape in the coming years.” Said Mr. Aina.

With Africa’s most experienced tech investors, international fintech capabilities, and local backing in Nigeria, Payhippo will use the preseed funds to hire more engineers and a Head of Finance to keep up with the current growth.

What You Need To Know About Payhippo

Founded in 2020 by the trio of Chioma Okotcha, Uche Nnadi, and Zach Bijesse, Payhippo assesses businesses, builds their Payhippo Scores, and provides financing to them. Payhippo has disbursed over 2,600 loans to businesses. These are the community grocery stores or small retail shops that are part of the critical infrastructure of their communities but are left outside of the traditional financial system.

Read the original article here

Nichole Manhire

Is the media and brand manager at GFA News. She works very closely with editors and podcasters that contribute to telling the African business success story. For marketing and advertising send Nichole an email: nichole@getfundedafrica.com

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