Yep!, a Nigerian fintech startup, has raised $1.5 million in a pre-seed funding round led by Greenhouse Capital.
Alongside the new funding, the fintech also announced a new digital financial super app on iOS and Android in five African countries (Nigeria, Niger, Togo, Ivory Coast, and Burkina Faso).
The company plans to double an existing network of about 100,000 merchants to over 200,000 by the end of 2022.
Furthermore, the founders are in discussions with international credit providers to increase the super-app’s debt facility to $10 million by the end of this year as the company scales its lending operations.
Founded by Olaoluwa Awojoodu, Airende Ojeomogha, and Garry Ottosen Yep! is a digital financial services company leveraging technology to deliver unconventional and intuitive financial services and solutions that fills the gap left by existing banking models which fail to serve Africa’s unbanked, underserved and micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs).
Awojoodu commented: “We have secured a $500,000 credit facility that will enable us to kick-start the provision of working capital loans to our existing merchants as we expand across the continent.
“As we strive to deliver on our promise of bringing financial access to all Africans and connecting Africans to the world, increasing Yep!’s lending capacity will be a key catalyst in pulling more customers and merchants into our ecosystem. Access to finance can be transformative – it unlocks opportunities among those that need it the most and has a huge impact on the wider economy.”
As part of its mission to boost financial inclusion, Yep! will leverage its existing merchant network, PayCentre Africa, to ease entry into the formal economy for rural communities, who would otherwise be financially excluded. The company’s services enable entrepreneurs, small business owners, students, MSMEs, and merchants to gain safe and easy access to financial solutions digitally.
In 2021 alone, over 5 million customers transacted more than $2 billion through the company’s growing network of merchants. In an attempt to close the loop, bank these customers; Yep! secured a microfinance bank (MFB) licence in Nigeria, enabling the company to set up accounts for customers, businesses, and merchants, in a matter of seconds.
The firm is exploring partnerships with leading U.S. banks and service providers to expand its products to customers in the U.S., building on remittance flows to Africa from the diaspora and migrants from the region. Product lines across the Atlantic will include low-cost and freely accessible remittances to African countries, free checking and saving accounts and a credit card to start.
In recent years, remittance flows to low and middle income have soared as high as $550 billion, a figure that does not include sums transferred through informal channels.
With banks and money transfer services temporarily closed during the Covid-19 pandemic, millions of customers turned to online remittances, which continue to provide vital support to families affected by economic hardship or facing increasing costs for school.
According to data from the World Bank, remittance inflows to Sub-Saharan Africa rose in 2021, rising by 6.2% to $45 billion.
As migration flows from the continent are expected to increase, and digitisation paces ahead, remittances to sub-Saharan Africa are set to receive unprecedented growth, a trend Yep! is sure to benefit from.
Ruby Nimkar, Partner at Greenhouse Capital stated why they invested in Yep! saying, “We are excited to support Olaoluwa, Airende and Garry as they make financial services accessible to consumers and businesses both on the continent, as well as in the diaspora. The founders are seasoned operators and we were impressed by the vision, the team and the speed of execution.”
