Nine years down the line, South African startup Nomanini has added $4 million to its funding portfolio. With the new funding round led by Standard Bank of South Africa, the fintech startup would be looking to scale further across Africa. This is obviously a classic case of how corporate partnership with startups can go along way.
Here Is The Deal
- The US$4 million funding round was led by Standard Bank, Africa’s largest bank, and was completed by Goodwell Investments, an Amsterdam-based investment firm.
- With the new investment, the fintech startup would be looking to scale further across Africa.
- Founded in 2010, Nomanini has developed a platform that enables informal merchants and micro-entrepreneurs in emerging markets to distribute digital goods such as airtime and prepaid electricity.
- Nomanini, which with previous funding from Goodwell and Fundamo founder Hannes Van Rensburg has now raised over US$6 million, will now expand across Africa via a mobile application launched by Standard Bank.
- The app provides access to new lines of business, credit and savings services for millions of informal merchants across 15 African countries, namely South Africa, Zambia, Mozambique, Uganda, Malawi, Angola, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Ghana, Nigeria, Kenya, Tanzania, eSwatini, Lesotho and Botswana.
Why Standard Bank Invested In The Startup
Standard Bank invested in the startup but most importantly will partner with it to scale its operations. Standard Bank will use the Nomanini platform to unearth previously unavailable data on the informal retail economy.
“The reality is, around 86 per cent of all employment in Sub-Saharan Africa is informal. Going to the bank and filling out forms for a loan is simply not viable — and can take days. In Nomanini, we’ve found a partner uniquely placed to help micro-merchants in Africa thrive, not just survive,” said Adrian Vermooten, head of digital in Africa Regions at Standard Bank.
“Our partnership and investment in Nomanini has helped us uncover simple, scalable opportunities while granting new and existing customers access to financial services for the first time. Previously, this type of information was unavailable to us but now our merchant customers can access banking services wherever they are and whenever it suits them.”
According to Nomanini’s founder and chief executive officer (CEO)Vahid Monadjem:
“This partnership with Standard Bank will be instrumental for Nomanini’s next wave of growth, while ensuring that millions of Africa’s underserved micro-entrepreneurs receive access to digital financial services for the first time. And this is just the beginning,”
The partnership also allows Nomanini to add merchant financing to its existing service offering, with the company planning to expand its portfolio of financial services to offer remittances, insurance and other products in the future.
“Nomanini’s interoperable wallet is a gateway to a whole range of digital banking services — loans and savings now but soon, remittances and insurance too. It’s only by bridging the divide between the digital and the physical cash that rules in these markets that we’ll be able to rewrite the rules of informal retail trade in Africa, ”said Vahid Monadjem.
What Nomanini Does
Nomanini enables informal merchants and micro-entrepreneurs in emerging markets to distribute digital goods such as airtime and prepaid electricity.
The startup also offers micro-loans to merchants and operates in markets such as Ghana and Mozambique.
Africa’s fintech companies have raised $320 million in funding since January 2015 and the ecosystem has surged 60% in the last two years.
Read Also: A New Fund For Financial Services Startups Around The World From The Central Bank of South Africa
The continent’s fintech firms have grown to 491 from 301 in 2017, while the $132.8 million raised in 2018 has been the sector’s best-ever year, according to the Finnovating for Africa 2019: Reimagining the African financial services landscape report.
Nigeria led the investments in 2018 with 58 startups raising $94,9 millions, followed by South Africa with 40 businesses that raised $59,9 millions, and Kenya was third.
Charles Rapulu Udoh
Charles Rapulu Udoh is a Lagos-based Lawyer with special focus on Business Law, Intellectual Property Rights, Entertainment and Technology Law. He is also an award-winning writer. Working for notable organizations so far has exposed him to some of industry best practices in business, finance strategies, law, dispute resolution, and data analytics both in Nigeria and across the world.