Lemonade Finance, a payments startup that enables Africans living in other countries to send and receive money back home, has secured US$725k in pre-seed capital.
According to the startup, YCombinator, an American startup accelerator, and venture capital companies Microtraction, Ventures Platform, and Acuity Venture Partners participated in the investment round. A number of other private investors also contributed to the round.
“The existing remittance options, some of which are led by big players, are not nimble enough. For instance, many Africans abroad own businesses back home and need to hold money in two currencies. They also need to move such funds quickly, sometimes for needs and purposes that are urgent. A Nigerian user of Lemonade in the U.K can hold the Pound Sterling and the Nigerian Naira, easily converting one to the other. Users can also transfer the money back and forth from Nigeria without needing to wait days,” said co-founder Ridwan Olalere.
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The new money will allow the team to strengthen its squad, improve the app’s functionality, and expand the number of nations covered.
Microtraction and Ventures Platform said they’re confident in Lemonade’s solution’s effectiveness.
“Lemonade’s solution is very timely. As a multi-currency financial service provider, they make it easy for the African diaspora to send and receive money from their new country of residence, which is remarkable. We believe Rian and Ridwan have the technical and financial know-how to provide the number 1 cross-border neo-bank for Africans in the diaspora.” Microtraction’s Managing Partner, Dayo Koleowo, stated.
“We are excited to back Ridwan, Rian, and the Lemonade team, who have built a compelling financial product to serve the more than 100 million Africans in the diaspora, who today have limited access to great financial products. The founders are rockstars with deep experience building and scaling products to reach millions of users.” Kayode Oyewole, a partner at Ventures Platform noted.
What You Need To Know To Know About Lemonade Finance
Founded in 2020 by Rian Cochran and Ridwan Olalere, Lemonade is helping Africans send and receive money from their home countries in efficient, affordable, and fast ways.
Former Opay employees Rian Cochran and Ridwan Olalere saw the need to fix the payment problem that many Africans in the diaspora confront while working on a project.
Lemonade differs from other companies in the industry, such as ChipperCash, Fliqpay, and Afriex, since it allows customers to keep their balances in the currencies that matter to them, according to the startup’s co-founder Ridwan.
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