Funding Nigeria: Top Rounds in 2022 YTD
As FinTech drives innovation and exponential Funding Growth to this Sub-Saharan African Market, we explore the top funding rounds in Nigeria in 2022 YTD with a special recap of VC dynamics in the past few years as recorded in our Nigeria 2022 Venture Investment Report.
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The VC ecosystem in Nigeria has been exceptional in its rate of growth, its rapid adoption of innovative technologies, and surely in its attractivity to international players. Growing gradually, the Ecosystem observed its first big break when VC funding observed a 285% YoY growth in 2019 to cross the $600M mark for the first time, driven by 2 Mega Rounds ($100M+) closed by local FinTech startups Interswitch Group and Opay. The role of FinTech and Mega Deals in driving the astronomical growth in VC funding across the ecosystem will then crystalize in the years to come, with Opay leading the charge in 2021.
The pressure of the pandemic on the VC ecosystem in Nigeria was evident in the year 2020. Despite observing a 21% YoY growth in recorded transactions, VC funding observed an abrupt 70% YoY slump to raise south of $200M in 2020. Given the nascent nature of this ecosystem, and when compared to peer emerging venture markets of similar population size and fairly similar GDP like Pakistan, the level of funding is still highly impressive, where the latter crossed the $100M mark only last year. Surely, and in line with VC dynamics across all emerging venture markets, 2021 was an exceptional year for Nigeria as funding increased by more than 600% to near the $1Bn mark across 134 transactions. This growth was spearheaded by the FinTech sector, recording 3 Mega Rounds by OPay, Flutterwave, and PalmPay to raise more than 70% of the total capital invested in the country.
With FinTech still driving VC investment in Nigeria already raising north of $400M in the first quarter of 2022, the ecosystem as a whole has observed a %105 growth in funding compared to Q1’2021. This week we explore Nigeria’s top 3 Funding rounds in 2022 YTD:
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Flutterwave- $250M Series D
Considered the 7th Series D to ever be recorded in Africa, the Nigerian FinTech closed its second Mega Round to date after raising $170M in equity funding last year. Flutterwave’s $170M Mega Deal was backed by global giants and unlocked the unicorn status for the startup, while this year’s $250M Mega Round pushed the company’s valuation well past $1Bn with total funding raised to date nearing the $500M mark.
Since its initial $20M Series A round backed by the likes of 4DX Ventures, Y combinator, and MasterCard the Nigerian FinTech has raised 3 more funding rounds to aggregated a consortium of strategic investors including Tiger Global, Salesforce Ventures, Greycroft, Avenir Growth Capital, and B Capital Group.
Moove Africa- $105M Series A
Following its $10M debt financing and $23M Series A equity financing closed in the summer of 2021, the African mobility Tech Startup Moove has successfully raised $105M in its latest funding round. Launched in Nigeria in 2020 by Ladi Delano and Jide Odunsi, Moove is Uber Technologies’ exclusive vehicle financing and supply partner in sub-Saharan Africa. The startup helps underserved segments of the market finance their car acquisitions through a revenue-based model integrated into the gig driver's payment methods.
The latest Series A came forth as a mix of equity and venture debt, raising their total funding up to $175M in less than two years. The Series A round, securing $40M in venture Debt by Kreos Capital, was led by existing investors Speedinvest, Left Lane Capital, and thelatest.ventures, with participation from new investors including AfricInvest, MUFG Innovation Partners, and Latitude. Read more on Moove Africa in this story coverage.
Reliance Health- $40M Series B
Since 2016, the Nigerian HealthTech has set forth to combine the power of technology and data with the passion of a dedicated team to provide quality healthcare in emerging markets. Reliance Health does so by building integrated healthcare systems leveraging third-party clinical partners and their seamless integration to provide tailored health insurance plans for individuals and business across the region. The $40M Series B round came at a core scaling opportunity for the Nigerian HealthTech and was backed by the likes of Partech Partners, General Atlantic, Tencent Holdings, P1 Ventures, and M3 Inc.
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