Why A Host Of VCs And Founders Poured $1.7m In Nigerian Fintech Startup, Brass

Brass founders, Emmanuel Okeke and Sola Akindolu.

Brass, a fintech startup based in Nigeria which provides financial services to small and medium businesses, has raised $1.7 million in a new round of funding to expand its capabilities for “local entrepreneurs, merchants, and fast-growing businesses.”

Ventures Platform, a pan-African VC firm, is among the investors in this round. Flutterwave CEO Olugbenga “GB” Agboola, Paystack co-founder Ezra Olubi, Hustle Fund, Acuity Ventures, and Uncovered Fund are among the other investors. Voltron Capital’s Olumide Soyombo, Leonard Stiegler, and Fola Olatunji-David are also some of the previous investors.

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Brass plans to utilize some of the funds to expand its operations to Kenya and South Africa by next year (it has finalized incorporation in the former). A partnership with Flutterwave is critical to the one-year-old company’s expansion plans across Africa, according to a statement. Brass also intends to broaden its consumer base by introducing new product categories, particularly in its lending markets.

Brass Nigeria fintech
Brass founders, Emmanuel Okeke and Sola Akindolu. Source: Brass

Why The Investors Invested

Investors backed Brass for a variety of reasons, the most important of which being the startup’s significant traction thus far. The company’s comprehensive banking solution for SMEs is used by over 5,000 customers, ranging from schools and malls to eateries and fintechs like Eden and Mono.

Brass Capital, the company’s cash-flow lending business, claims to have disbursed more than $2 million in credit after being used for six months in private beta by two dozen Brass customers.

According to Kola Aina, the founder and general partner of Ventures Platform, the company’s objective to make banking work for small businesses was one of the reasons for its investment.

This is also the case for Elizabeth Yin, the general partner at Hustle Fund who noted that the VC backed the Brass Team “who are providing critical financial technology to Africa’s businesses, starting with Nigeria’s approximately 41.5 million businesses.” 

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But then the startup’s biggest pitch in this investment round is its founders’ previous experience and connections. Before joining Brass, CEO Sola Akindolu was the head of product at YC-backed Kudi, while CTO Emmanuel Okeke worked at Stripe subsidiary Paystack as an engineering manager. It’s, therefore, no surprise that Paystack co-founder Ezra Olubi took part in this investment round.

A Look At What Brass Does

Brass, a Nigerian fintech founded by Sola Akindolu and Emmanuel Okeke in July 2020, provides banking services to small and medium enterprises.

Brass provides a package of services, including credit and payment processing, payroll and expenditure management, API support, cash-flow analytics, team and contact management, and other essential business services like POS, debit, and credit cards, all wrapped around a business bank account.

According to Brass, many of its clients use the site as their primary money-transfer service provider. The CEO said the fintech makes money by providing credit and API calls as part of its regular product offering.

Read also: Mastercard Launches SME-in-a-Box as Payment Solution for Zambian Businesses

The concept for Brass came from Akindolu’s work at Kudi. He discovered how difficult it was for small enterprises to have flawless financial operations and cash-flow support services, which are critical to managing vendor payments, money movement, and general business health, while at Kudi.

Brass claims to be different from existing products on the Nigerian market such as Sparkle, which provides both personal and business banking services, consumer neobanks Carbon and Kuda, and Prospa, a YC-backed company that provides software and banking services to microbusinesses and freelancers, because while these products have entry points into the SME market, they do not capture the entire banking needs of businesses like Brass.

“There are many ways money can get out of the business, be it payroll, vendor payment, invoicing. We want to support businesses’ cash flow; we want to support them in those areas to make sure that money keeps running and they can keep growing their business,” Akindolu said, of Brass’ application. “So that’s, for the most part, what we’re doing with Brass today: financial operations and cash flow support.”

Brass Nigeria fintech Brass Nigeria 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

Ventures Platform Invests In 3 Nigerian Tech Startups 

Ventures Platform partner Kayode Oyewole

Three Nigerian tech startups Tambua Health, Brass and FunnelJoy have landed investment from early-stage fund Ventures Platform to help them scale their solutions. 

Ventures Platform partner Kayode Oyewole
Ventures Platform partner Kayode Oyewole

“Today, despite the reality of the current COVID-19 pandemic and its far-reaching second and third order social and economic effects, our convictions haven’t changed as we believe that this pandemic makes a stronger case for investing in innovative startups that are nimble and able to benefit from a boost in user adoption and lower customer education costs as people find new ways to live, work and communicate,” said Ventures Platform partner Kayode Oyewole who said the company was proud to be investing throughout the COVID-19 crisis.

“Moreover, the way we get out of rot is by building.”

A Look At The Three Startups Invested Into

Tambua Health uses lung sound analysis to transform the diagnosis and treatment of respiratory diseases globally. The company has built a hardware device called the T-sense that generates images of the lungs by detecting the vibrations of sound as air moves in and out of the lungs using sensor arrays put on the back of the patient.

The startup recently secured funding after taking part in the Y Combinator accelerator, and also participated in the Google Launchpad Africa programme.

Brass, meanwhile, is a digital bank that provides small and medium businesses with a suite of products and tools designed to help them grow. FunnelJoy is all-in-one tool designed for digital entrepreneurs, marketers, and creators to help them capture, convert and engage leads and sell products online.

About Venture Platform

Ventures Platform invests in early-stage startups that are building capital-efficient platforms that democratise prosperity, plug infrastructural gaps, connect underrepresented communities, create efficiencies, solve for non-consumption, and improve livelihoods.

Portfolio companies include Trove, Thank U Cash and MDaaS, and Ventures Platform has now added to its stable with three more investments. The amounts invested are undisclosed.

 

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.