Zeepay, a Ghanaian mobile financial services company that specialises in offering integrated mobile payment services, has raised $10 million, with Symbiotics BV leading the way with USD 9 million and a Mauritius-based fund investing USD 1 million, for a total of USD 10 million.

The Series A.5 medium term debt raise is intended to help Zeepay expand its rapidly expanding remittance to wallet business.

“The raise was necessary and comes at the time when we are planning to increase our annual turnover from USD 1.5 billion circa 2021 to USD 200 billion over the next 5 years,” Founder and Managing Director, Andrew Takyi-Appiah said. 

Why The Investors Invested

Kwabena Appenteng, Transaction Advisor at Verdant Capital, said: ”We are delighted to see the close of this component of the round, and urge local financial institutions and pension funds to find their niche, to enable them to participate alongside international lenders in the future as we work to deepen the African fintech ecosystem”.

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“The raise had become mission critical as we expand our service offering and African expansion and well within a manageable Loan to value ratio of 9%. This will help augment support from local African Banks the likes of Ecobank, Fidelity Bank and Absa,” Godfried Boakye, CFO, added.

A Look At What Zeepay Does

The 2014-founded business enables the processing of numerous mobile phone payments and functions as an aggregator, bringing all transactions from all parties together on a single platform. The business’s main application, which utilises open source software, was created to link different payment systems, banks, retailers, mobile network operators (MNOs), and other businesses with subscriber-based transactions.

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Zeepay has a presence in more than 20 African nations and, in April 2020, became the first locally-owned business to be granted the Electronic Money Issuer (EMI) licence by the Bank of Ghana to operate as a provider of mobile financial services.

Charles Rapulu Udoh

Charles Rapulu Udoh is a Lagos-based lawyer, who has several years of experience working in Africa’s burgeoning tech startup industry. He has closed multi-million dollar deals bordering on venture capital, private equity, intellectual property (trademark, patent or design, etc.), mergers and acquisitions, in countries such as in the Delaware, New York, UK, Singapore, British Virgin Islands, South Africa, Nigeria etc. He’s also a corporate governance and cross-border data privacy and tax expert. 
As an award-winning writer and researcher, he is passionate about telling the African startup story, and is one of the continent’s pioneers in this regard. You can book a session and speak with him using the link: https://insightsbyexperts.com/view_expert/charles-rapulu-udoh

Zeepay, a leading Ghanaian fintech, has completed a USD7.9 million Series A.0 fundraising round. To support its activities, the finance is a mix of stock and balance sheet capital. In 20 African markets, Zeepay facilitates digital remittances from the diaspora to mobile wallets, bank accounts, and visa cards.

The fundraise was spearheaded by I&P, an impact investing firm with over USD250 million in assets under management, and supported by ARK Holdings, a privately held family investment portfolio on behalf of Andrew Takyi-Appiah (Managing Director) and Zoe Takyi-Appiah in the amount of USD800,000.

“An exciting story on the continent, full of hope and inspiration for the New African — that is the young African looking to chart their own path through startups across the Continent”, said Andrew Takyi-Appiah, Managing Director and Founder of Zeepay.

He added that: “Our raise of USD7.9 million in Series A.0 gives Zeepay a strong capital table, ahead of closing our Series A.5 in the coming months. I am delighted to mention that the raise is coming at a time when we have successfully moved into our new Commercial Property in Accra. Our performance, I believe, is attributable to the Grace of God. Indeed, it is my wish that our Founding Chairman, Dr. Anthony Kwasi Appiah, was here today as we sign this deal. He played a pivotal role in getting the company to where it is today. May his soul continue to rest in peace. I would also like to take the opportunity to thank Mr. Kwame Achampong-Kyei and the GLICO Group for their diligent support over the last 5years.”

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Here Is What You Need To Know

• A follow-on investment of USD800,000 was made by GOODsoil VC, an African-focused early-stage venture capital firm.

• The company raised USD3.3 million in debt, headed by Absa Bank Ghana in the amount of USD1.8 million and supported by First National Bank Ghana in the amount of USD1.5 million, to drive balance sheet activities primarily for liquidity needs.

• Prior to the fund campaign, Zeepay had successfully deployed a total of USD450,000 since its go-to-market in May 2016, achieving a cumulative average growth rate of around 146 percent over the five years leading up to these transactions.

“Our strategy remains to drive our remittance to digital assets agenda across Africa and the Caribbean and we are excited by the rate of expansion. We have a number of strategic acquisitions lined up and anticipate closing before year end. We look forward to being able to expand our operations beyond our current 20 countries and increase our active 30-day business from 13 markets to 20 plus markets across Africa. Indeed, what we celebrate today could not have been possible without the passing of the Payment Systems Act 2019, which has been a very progressive Government initiative,” Zeepay Chairman Mr. Yankey said. 

A New Partnership With Paygilant

At the same time, Zeepay has partnered with Paygilant to protect its global operations in Africa and the United Kingdom. Paygilant will protect Zeepay’s digital payment infrastructure from digital fraud and provide customers with a seamless experience.

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Zeepay links digital assets including mobile money wallets, cards, ATMs, bank accounts, and digital tokens to international money transfer operators, payments, subscriptions, international airtime, and refugee payments. Zeepay looked for a reliable mobile fraud prevention solution that didn’t detract from the customer’s payment experience.

“Paygilant is an ideal fit for our needs, as its solution is versatile and designed with superb fraud prevention capabilities” said Andrew Takyi-Appiah, the Managing Director of Zeepay. “We wanted to safeguard and provide our customers the highest-level transaction experience.”

Paygilant’s solution is tailored to Fintech firms that must distinguish between genuine and fraudulent transactions throughout the customer journey. Paygilant helps FinTech companies build consumer confidence and drive growth while preventing money loss.

“We are honored to be working with forward-thinking organization like Zeepay” stated Ziv Cohen, Paygilant’s CEO. Ziv added “It is great to see Israeli high-tech and African Fintech joining forces.”

A Look At What Zeepay Does

Founded in 2014 by Andrew Takyi-Appiah, Zeepay focuses on using digital rails to connect digital assets. The company has a footprint in more than 20 African markets and, in April 2020, became the first indigenous company to be awarded the Electronic Money Issuer (EMI) license to operate as a mobile financial services company by the Bank of Ghana, the regulator of banking and financial services.

Zeepay fintech Zeepay fintech

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

The emerging Ghanaian fintech startup Zeepay has raised a US$940,000 seed funding round to enable it to continue to scale and roll out its services across the Ghana, and expand into more countries in Africa. The startup which is focused on digital rails to connect digital assets such as mobile money wallets, cards, ATMs, bank accounts and digital tokens to international money transfer operators, payments, subscriptions, international airtime and refugee payments plans to scale up to the next level of its mandate, says its management.

ZeePAY already has a footprint in more than 20 African markets, and in April 2020 was awarded an Electronic Money Issuer (EMI) license to operate as a mobile financial services company by the Bank of Ghana, the regulator of banking and financial services. The seed round from GOODsoil VC, an Africa-focused early-stage venture capital firm founded in 2017, will enable Zeepay to continue to scale. The startup has a United Kingdom (UK) launch planned for 2021.

Read also:Ghanaian Fintech Startup ZeePay Secures $940k Seed Funding From VC GOODsoil

Andrew Takyi-Appiah, ZeePay co-founder and CEO said that the company is “delighted to have GOODsoil on board,” said Zeepay co-founder and managing director. “We believe with their strong brokerage background, with leading Ghanaian brokerage firm Obsidian Achernar in their portfolio, we will be able to attract good pricing on foreign exchange for our wholesale clients.”

Kelechi Deca

Kelechi Deca has over two decades of media experience, he has traveled to over 77 countries reporting on multilateral development institutions, international business, trade, travels, culture, and diplomacy. He is also a petrol head with in-depth knowledge of automobiles and the auto industry

Ghana has not seen so much venture capital in its startup ecosystem as 2020 runs out compared to South Africa, Kenya or Nigeria, but GOODsoil, an Africa-focused EU-based early stage venture capital firm is determined to make a dent, nevertheless. Headed by a diverse team of entrepreneurial investors, GOODsoil has soiled Ghanaian fintech company Zeepay with US$940 000 seed capital. 

“We are delighted to have GOODsoil on board,” says Zeepay co-founder and managing director Andrew Takyi-Appiah. “We believe with their strong brokerage background, with leading Ghanaian brokerage firm Obsidian Achernar in their portfolio, we will be able to attract good pricing on Foreign Exchange for our wholesale clients.”

Here Is What You Need To Know

• Following this investment, two previous investors in Zeepay have exited their initial investment of about USD24,000 in 2015 to USD940,000 at the 2020 exit. 
• This makes it the first of the kind that a Ghanaian investor has exited a local startup with such significant gains.
• GOODsoil’s investment will enable Zeepay to continue to scale and roll out its services across the continent, and extend its global reach by launching in the UK in 2021.

Why The Investor Invested

Based in London and Accra, GOODsoil’s portfolio is diverse, and extends across the UK and Sub-Saharan Africa — with a strong focus on Fintech. The company makes up Crunchbase’s list of less than 100 Female Founded Investors active in Africa, and one of only 125 Female Founded Venture Capital Investors with Investments in England.

“There are clear barriers to entry for tech startups to scale, and our vision is to level the playing field. We go by the dictum that talent is evenly distributed; opportunities are not,” explains Charmaine Hayden, partner at GOODsoil. The company is the perfect fit for entrepreneurs, markets and industries that may typically be overlooked by other VC firms, adds Orla Enright.

Founded in 2017 by Charmaine Hayden, Orla Enright, Ashley Thompson-MacCarthy and Richard Mensah, and based in London and Accra, GOODsoil VC aims to fund 50+ startups in the next 5 years, while also building longterm relationships with investors who are equally passionate about tech innovation, early-stage companies and investment in Africa.

“GOODsoil will remain bullish on Africa for the foreseeable future, as we scale our portfolio and invest in new exceptional startups. We look forward to shortly confirming a $67.5m fund we are currently raising,” confirms Hayden.

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A Look At What Zeepay Does

Founded in 2014 by Andrew Takyi-Appiah, Zeepay focuses on using digital rails to connect digital assets. The company has a footprint in more than 20 African markets and, in April 2020, became the first indigenous company to be awarded the Electronic Money Issuer (EMI) license to operate as a mobile financial services company by the Bank of Ghana, the regulator of banking and financial services.

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