African fintech startup Nala has successfully secured $40 million in its latest funding round, marking one of the largest Series A investments ever seen in the region.
This follows their initial $10 million seed funding round in 2022.
Leading the charge was San Francisco-based Acrew Capital, joined by prominent investors DST Global, Norrsken22, HOF Capital, and existing backers including Amplo and NYCA Partners.
Angel investors like fintech luminaries Ryan King (Chime) and Vlad Tenev (Robinhood) also participated.
Nala’s Global Expansion
Founder and CEO Benjamin Fernandes expressed that these funds will bolster Nala’s global expansion efforts, aiming to scale their remittance services into Asian and Latin American markets.
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We’re re-investing to fortify our infrastructure, ensuring dependable, cost-effective payments for all.
With the rollout of our proprietary payment rails and the expansion of our B2B platform Rafiki, we are not just envisioning change—we are actively constructing it. We have ambitious plans ahead, and we’re excited for what the next few years will bring,” said Fernandez.
Nala’s innovative platform currently enables users in the EU, UK, and US to transfer funds across 249 banks and 26 mobile money services in 11 African markets through their user-friendly app.
Financial Control
Key integrations like M-Pesa, allow users to pay bills directly into local mobile wallets for enhanced convenience.
Fernandes said the decision to enhance payment capabilities stemmed from user demand for greater financial control. Nala plans to introduce these services to new markets, starting with Asia.
“It empowers us to expand beyond remittances and broaden our impact beyond Africa, establishing a robust payments ecosystem.”
Founded in 2017 initially for local money transfers in Tanzania, Nala piloted in the region to focus on international remittances in 2021.
in 2022, Africans lost $8 billion in fees and by the end of 2023, just six African countries supported real-time payments.
On average, 7-8% were lost to transaction fees every time money was sent home. Africa is still by far the most expensive continent to send money to.
