Recently, the Nigerian fintech unicorn, Moniepoint, announced a significant investment from the global payments giant Visa. This investment comes after Moniepoint raised $110 million in a Series C funding round, increasing the company’s valuation to over a billion dollars. The investment highlights growing interest in Moniepoint as a strong company with promising prospects.
Visa’s investment will support Moniepoint in expanding its services for African businesses. Established in 2015, Moniepoint offers banking and payment services to small and medium enterprises as well as retail banking. It is a leading player in Nigeria’s agent banking sector with a vast network of over 300,000 POS agents. In 2023, the company processed 5.2 billion transactions.
This collaboration leverages Moniepoint’s local expertise and innovative business approach with Visa’s global resources and capabilities.
Founder and Group CEO of Moniepoint, Tosin Eniolorunda, stated, “Visa’s support is a strong validation of our vision to digitalize and empower African businesses on a large scale. Our goal is to enhance financial inclusion, providing SMEs with the necessary tools to succeed in an increasingly digital economy.”
Visa joins other notable investors in Moniepoint, including Development Partners International, Google’s Africa Investment Fund, Verod Capital, Lightrock, QED Investors, Novastar Ventures, British International Investment (BII), FMO, Global Ventures, and Endeavor Catalyst.
Andrew Torre, Regional President of Visa, Central and Eastern Europe, Middle East, and Africa, added, “Moniepoint has developed a remarkable platform that caters to the needs of Africa’s SMEs, a crucial segment for economic growth. By enhancing access to financial services and digital payments, Moniepoint is reshaping how businesses operate in Nigeria and beyond. We are thrilled to support their next phase of expansion and innovation.”
Visa has now become an investor in Nigeria’s three locally-founded fintech unicorns: Interswitch, Flutterwave, and Moniepoint. In 2019, Interswitch achieved unicorn status following Visa’s acquisition of a minority stake in the company. Visa also participated in Flutterwave’s Series B funding round in 2020 and Paystack’s Series A funding round in 2018.