Uzoma Dozie - Afrikan Heroes

Sparkle Raises $3.1m to Scale Digital Banking in Nigeria

October 19, 2021

Nigerian fintech startup Sparkle, a mobile-first digital bank that provides financial, lifestyle and business support services to Nigerians across the world, has raised a US$3.1 million seed funding round to help it invest in infrastructure and scale across the diaspora.

Sparkle is the brainchild of former Diamond Bank chief executive officer (CEO) and tech entrepreneur Uzoma Dozie, and it offers comprehensive support for individuals, including flexible payments, savings and analytics to provide greater freedom, flexibility and control over finances and lifestyle. Its mobile app gives customers full and free access to one account that offers multiple services and different wallets.

The startup has just raised a US$3.1 million funding round from an all-Nigerian group of investors including Leadway Assurance, Trium Networks and a number of Nigerian HNIs. This follows a previous friends and family pre-seed round totalling US$2 million, bringing Sparkle’s total funding to date to US$5.1 million.

The new investment will be used to scale the platform’s talent teams across engineering, financial risk and marketing departments and investing in its automated back end processes and digital infrastructure.

Sparkle has seen triple-digit growth between 2020/21 and will now continue its focus of connecting Nigerians and the global Nigerian diaspora by building a different type of financial services platform that is more than just banking, but a means of improving the financial lifestyle of its users, allowing for borderless transactions.

In April 2021, Sparkle launched its business platform, Sparkle Business, targeted at the new generation of digital first MSMEs and SMEs in Nigeria, with features such as inventory and invoice management, a payment gateway service, tax advisory and employee management.

“I’m delighted to be collaborating with a group of highly respected Nigerian businesses, investment firms and captains of industry – all of whom understand the real need for a digital-first platform such as Sparkle, to bring better access to financial services and, importantly, financial inclusion, to millions more people – for business, for personal means or both,” said Dozie.

“Collectively, as a group of investors and business builders, we are Nigerians who are bullish about Nigeria and the opportunity the country presents in terms of building global networks and communities, all via one app. I am excited to welcome our new investors into the Sparkle tribe and will be leaning on their sector expertise and insight to build long-lasting partnerships as we scale.”

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

Why Nigerian Investors Backed Fintech Startup, Sparkle, In A $3.1m Seed Funding Round

October 15, 2021

Sparkle, a Nigerian fintech founded by an ex-CEO of a former Nigerian incumbent bank, has raised $3.1 million in a seed round to expand operations. Leadway Assurance led this round of investment, which included Trium Network and a few unknown high-net-worth people.

“We’re quite different…because instead of separating financial services from lifestyle, we’ve tried to bring them together, especially as we’ve seen that more people are beginning to lead more digitally-led lives,” CEO Uzoma Dozie said in an interview.

“It means that we don’t see our customers from accounts, payments, deposits or credit perspectives, but from how can we help them do what they want to do at any particular time.” So that’s Sparkle’s pitch — to provide financial, lifestyle and business support services to Nigerians.

Sparkle raised $2 million in a pre-seed round from friends and family earlier this year.

The startup will put the money into two things: robotic process automation to help with mundane and repetitive tasks, and acquiring talent in engineering, finance, risk, and marketing.

Why The Investors Invested

The investors in this round are mostly Nigerians, and they have backed the founder in particular because of his experience in the Nigerian financial services industry. The founder, Dozie was the CEO and last group managing director of Diamond Bank before joining Sparkle. Prior to its merger with Access Bank, he was in charge of the bank’s corporate, commercial, and retail divisions; the bank today has 29 million customers.

The CEO also maintains a wide network of connections in the financial services which was also instrumental in helping the company procure its operating license from the Central Bank of Nigeria.

However, the traction that the firm has gained thus far aided in attracting investors in this round. Since its start last year, the neobank has amassed over 40,000 personal banking users and 2,000 enterprises. According to Dozie, the company began collecting minor fees to individual consumers to keep their accounts functioning, and wants to charge businesses for most products except taxation services.

Despite the fact that Nigeria has over 100 million active bank accounts (out of a population of around 200 million), problems such as inefficient service delivery, frequent outages, and bad loans and experiences have led to widespread skepticism of banking institutions.

A Look At What The Startup Does

Founded in 2019 by Uzoma Dozie, Sparkle is a digital bank, licensed as a microfinance bank in Nigeria.

To attract consumers in a crowded market, the business is counting on typical functions like savings, bill payments, top-ups, asking or sending funds, as well as less common capabilities like bill splitting and analyzing spending breakdowns.

Sparkle Business was launched in April to target a different class of underserved users: small and medium enterprises. This category, according to Sparkle, has taken to the new business arm well, as it now has access to inventory and invoice management, tax advice, and payroll and employee management services.

“As a small business, I’m not carrying my bank account on my mobile. I’m carrying my business. So we are bringing everything about your business into one place so that you can do business wherever you are,” Dozie said. “For individuals, we’re bringing everything into one place so that you can do what you want to do quite easily wherever you are. But the bottom line is that we’re providing you with the information that you need to take spontaneous decisions.”

Sparkle has also partnered with Visa to allow customers to utilize their Visa card to make in-person or digital payments. Network International and PwC Nigeria are two other companies with which the company has partnered.

Nigerian fintech Sparkle Nigerian fintech Sparkle

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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

Sparkle Business Launches Mobile App to Support SMEs in Nigeria

April 7, 2021

Nigeria’s leading mobile financial firm Sparkle, a mobile-first digital ecosystem providing financial, lifestyle and business support services to Nigerians across the globe, has launched Sparkle Business. This new app is an addition to the existing Sparkle mobile application, to help small businesses and SMEs access the much-needed products and services to grow their enterprises digitally.

The new Sparkle Business features include an Inventory and Invoice Management with aim to help businesses maintain control over their payment requests and overall operations.

Also included in the app is a Payment Gateway Service to manage single and bulk payments more seamlessly, a Tax Advisory/Calculations to help evaluate business turnover and calculate tax filings, and a Payroll/Employee Management to manage employee payments and benefits effectively without error or human interventions, and much more.

The platform has been designed with mobile-first, digital native entrepreneurs and companies in mind, who need to run all aspects of their enterprises, at the touch of a button.

Since its launch in 2020, Sparkle has grown a community built on trust and transparency, helping thousands to experience a new, easy, stress-free approach to organizing their finances.

In Nigeria, SMEs contribute 48% of national GDP, account for 96% of businesses and 84% of employment, however they often face challenges with making strategic decisions due to lack of data for key insights into important issues that affect their business.

Built by the Sparkle team to support Nigeria’s millions of SMEs as they scale, Sparkle Business will bring all essential business transactions onto one safe and simple to use platform.

Commenting on the launch, Uzoma Dozie, Founder and CEO of Sparkle, said, “SMEs are the largest employer of labour in Nigeria but are lacking access to basic services that will help their businesses.

We have introduced Sparkle Business as a one stop shop, to help individuals to launch their businesses digitally, while meeting existing SMEs’ pain points, and allowing them to pivot to the next level of success. We have been afforded this opportunity due to our extensive research and access to data, which allows us to know what exactly SMEs are looking for.

We are truly excited about the initial results from the beta test and are looking forward to impactful results for small businesses in the near future.”

Sparkle Business is live now and can be accessed by current Sparkle users who have registered businesses in Nigeria. To register, individuals will need to have a personal Sparkle account, Tax Identification Number [TIN], and an email address connected to their TIN.

Uzoma, having worked in retail banking for over 20 years, has unrivalled experience when it comes to building banking products for businesses. He adds, “Sparkle was built to allow individuals to be free; Sparkle Business is an extension of this, so that business owners can reduce friction when it comes to important administrative transactions.

“We’re excited to roll out our new products and services and to continue to grow an increasingly busy and entrepreneurial group of business owners who don’t want to accept that banking halls and physical paper trails are the only means of conducting business in Nigeria”.

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

Sparkle Partners Visa to Empower Consumers, SMEs in Nigeria

September 10, 2020

Sparkle Founder and former Diamond Bank CEO turned techpreneur Uzoma Dozie

Highly innovative Nigerian fintech startup Sparkle, a digital ecosystem providing financial, lifestyle and business support services, has partnered Visa in a collaboration that will enable it to issue Visa cards to its users, benefiting consumers, entrepreneurs and SMEs.

Sparkle which came on-stream in June courtesy of former Diamond Bank CEO turned techpreneur Uzoma Dozie with the aim of providing seamless solutions to Nigerian individuals, SMEs and retailers is raising the bar with this partnership. The startup, which was granted a banking license by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), offers comprehensive support for individuals, including flexible payments, savings and analytics to provide greater freedom, flexibility and control over finances and lifestyle. Its mobile app gives customers full and free access to one account that offers multiple services and different wallets.

Under the strategic collaboration with Visa, Sparkle customers will have greater freedom and flexibility in how they make payments. For instance, they can make in-app payments with the embedded Visa virtual card, and make e-commerce payments with the virtual card or with Visa-branded companion plastic cards attached to their Sparkle profile.

Sparkle customers will also benefit from a range of other digital payments initiatives from Visa, for example, by scanning the interoperable EMVCo Quick Response (QR) code or just entering an Alias such as phone number or merchant till number to pay for goods at merchant outlets. Sparkle customers can receive cross-border remittances from family and friends who are Visa cardholders into their Sparkle account.

Speaking on this new partnership, Sparkle’s founder, Uzoma Dozie said that “our partnership with Visa will bring a wide range of benefits to Sparkle’s customers, individuals, entrepreneurs and SMEs. We are excited to work with Visa as we strive to re-define e-commerce by removing barriers to business using technology and data. Working with a global partner like Visa allows us to deliver a bespoke and personalised service for our customers by tapping into large networks so they can fulfil their full potential.”

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

Dozie, Former Diamond Bank CEO Launches Digital Banking Startup in Nigeria

June 4, 2020

former Diamond Bank chief executive officer Uzoma Dozie

With the accent to an operating license from the Central Bank of Nigeria, Sparkle, a digital banking startup is all poised to commence operations in Nigeria, setting the stage for positive disruptions in the banking sub-sector of the Nigerian economy. Driven by the former Diamond Bank chief executive officer (CEO) and tech entrepreneur Uzoma Dozie, Sparkle aims at providing seamless solutions to Nigerian individuals, SMEs and retailers by offering comprehensive support for individuals, including flexible payments, savings and analytics to provide greater freedom, flexibility and control over finances and lifestyle.

Powered by data and technology, Sparkle is launching a mobile app – available for iOS and Android – giving customers full and free access to one account that offers multiple services and different wallets. Sparkle according to the founder CEO, will be transformational for Nigerians across the globe and I am hugely excited to be launching it today. It is redefining Nigerian commerce by merging financial services with a seamless lifestyle solution, says Dozie, adding that “we are removing barriers using technology and data, driving inclusion at scale. In doing so, we are empowering Nigerians to fulfill their potential, democratizing access to valuable solutions for both business and personal needs.”

Sparkle is partnering with Visa, Microsoft and PwC Nigeria to provide industry-leading expertise in APIs, cloud computing, data science, machine learning, tax and financial advisory services for the benefit of Sparkle’s customers. The services offered by Sparkle are all licensed by the CBN. “We are working with global partners to unleash freedom, flexibility and transparency in Nigeria. We are helping to drive forward the growth of Nigeria’s budding entrepreneurs and individuals,” said Dozie.

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