OPay, a Chinese-backed and Africa-focused fintech business, raised $400 million in new funding led by SoftBank Vision Fund 2 on Monday, valuing the company at $2 billion, according to Bloomberg.
Existing investors Sequoia Capital China, Redpoint China, Source Code Capital, and Softbank Ventures Asia participated in the round, which marked the Fund’s first investment in an African firm. The fresh financing round included participation from other investors such as DragonBall Capital and 3W Capital.
“Opay wants to be the power that helps emerging markets reach a faster economic development,” OPay CEO Yahui Zhou said.
The fresh money comes two years after OPay announced two funding rounds in 2019, one of $50 million in June and the other of $120 million in November.
Why The Investors Invested
“We believe our investment will help the company extend its offering to adjacent markets and replicate its successful business model in Egypt and other countries in the region,” Kentaro Matsui, a managing director at SoftBank Group Corp, said.
According to Bloomberg, the company’s monthly transaction volumes currently top $3 billion.
Opay expanded to Egypt last year, which the company claims is an entrance point into the Middle East market.
A Look At What Opay Does
The company, which was launched in 2018, had an exclusive presence in Nigeria, where it offered a wide range of digital services at low prices to consumers, ranging from mobility and logistics to e-commerce and fintech.
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The company’s mobile money division is currently thriving. OPay’s monthly transactions increased 4.5 times last year to over $2 billion in December, according to its parent firm Opera. OPay also claims to handle around 80% of bank transfers among Nigerian mobile money providers and 20% of non-merchant point-of-sale transactions. The company also announced last year that it had obtained an international money transfer license, with a WorldRemit collaboration in the works.
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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