MFS Africa‘s mission to colonize Africa’s fintech ecosystem continues. Barely some months after entering Cameroon via Maviance and a month after announcing a partnership deal with Global Technology Partners (GTP) to supply 100 million mobile money cards to mobile money users across Africa, the company has participated in Ivorian payments startup Julaya ’s $2 Million fundraising.
The Franco-Ivorian startup will use the funding to develop its fintech offerings in the West African sub-region. More precisely, the funds will be used to increase Julaya’s market share in Ivory Coast, launch new digital products and establish themselves in other countries in the zone.
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The investors involved in this fundraising include Orange Ventures, MFS Africa Frontiers, Saviu Ventures, Launch Africa Ventures, 50 Partners Capital and several African and European angel investors. Julaya received a $250,000 pre-seed investment in 2018 and a $550,000 seed investment a year later, both from angel investors.
“Mobile money is coming to a mature stage where business and public institution use-cases provide new growth opportunities for the sector. The pandemic has opened up minds about the urge to digitize payments. Fintech competition in West Africa is making digital finance more affordable for consumers, and technical integrations with telecom operators are becoming more reliable,” founder Charles Talbot said in a statement.
Why The Investors Invested
“The fintech ecosystem in Africa is distinguished by its competitiveness and its strong dynamism. The Orange group, through its technology investment fund, intends to strengthen this growth by supporting fintechs like Julaya. The objective is to target local technological champions in the service of the transition to a more digital and responsible world. This funding will allow Julaya to grow and conquer all of West Africa with the support of the Orange Digital Center teams “, explained Habib Bamba, Director of Transformation, Digital and Media at Orange Côte d’Ivoire.
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Orange is a mobile money service used by more than 20 million people in 15 African nations. In Ivory Coast, the telecom operator just established a mobile banking platform, which now has over 500,000 users. The investment in Julaya is therefore strategic for the company.
A Look At What Julaya Does
Founded by Mathias Léopoldie and Charles Talbot in March 2018, Julaya provides small merchants and SMEs with access to digital financial services. Both co-founders worked at French payment firm LemonWay in Mali and Burkina Faso before starting Julaya.
“We provide value to businesses with access to various digital financial transactions such as mobile money transfers, airtime top-up, and wire transfers to any banks,” said Talbot.
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Charles Rapulu Udoh
Charles Rapulu Udoh is a Lagos-based lawyer who has advised startups across Africa on issues such as startup funding (Venture Capital, Debt financing, private equity, angel investing etc), taxation, strategies, etc. He also has special focus on the protection of business or brands’ intellectual property rights ( such as trademark, patent or design) across Africa and other foreign jurisdictions.
He is well versed on issues of ESG (sustainability), media and entertainment law, corporate finance and governance.
He is also an award-winning writer