Kuda, Nigeria’s first digital-only bank with a standalone license, has secured $1.6 million in pre-seed funding led by Haresh Aswani. Aswani will join on Kuda’s board.
Ragnar Meitern and other angel investors also participated in the ending round.
Kuda, which was formerly known has KudiMoney, was recently granted a banking license from the Nigerian Central Bank.
“Kuda is the first digital-only bank in Nigeria with a standalone license. We’re not a mobile wallet or simply a mobile app piggybacking on an existing bank,” noted Kuda Co-founder Babs Ogundeyi.
Ogundeyi, who previously held a financial advisory role with the Nigerian government, co-founded the fintech startup in 2018 with Musty Mustapha, a former Stanbic Bank software developer.
We Raised $1.6 Million To Build Africa’s Best Bank https://t.co/4TH4gfsoGS
— Kuda (@kudabank) September 11, 2019
“We have built our own full-stack banking software from scratch. We can also take deposits and connect directly to the switch,” Ogundeyi added, referring to Nigeria’s Central Switch, which speeds settlements and information.
In the coming months, Kuda will add savings and P2P payments along with the no-fee checking accounts and debit cards it offers now.
“You can open a bank account within five minutes, do all the KYC in the app, and you get issued a new bank account number,” Ogundeyi said.
Now in beta mode, Kuda will use the funds for new tech and a live launch by fourth-quarter 2019.
“It’s Nigeria for right now, but the plan is to build a Pan-African digital-only bank,” Ogundeyi said.
