Union54, a Zambian card-issuing fintech startup, has raised $12 million in a seed extension round led by Tiger Global. Other participating investors in this financing round include existing ones such as Vibe VC and new investors Earl Grey Capital and Packy Mccormick’s Not Boring Capital.
This latest investment follows its seed round of $3 million also led by Tiger Global.
Founded in 2020 by Perseus Mlambo and Alessandra Martini, Union54 is a debit card issuing API for fintech and corporates. The startup allows any software company to issue debit cards to their customers without needing any bank or credit card processor. It is a spinoff from their previous company, Zazu, a challenger bank they launched six years ago.
Per numbers, Union54 says it has grown to issue slightly over half a million virtual debit cards to its customers. The company also claims to have processed volumes now reaching double digits in millions of dollars. In terms of revenue, it says that in its first month (October) was a little less than $3,000. In November, the company’s revenue increased by 600% and has subsequently grown 50% month-on-month.
In a TechCrunch interview, Mlambo said: “We’ve invested a lot of time and effort to understand what needs to happen and when. So our goal is that in the next 18 months, we should be able to do a test transaction. We’ve set ourselves to target the end of this year to have at least nine member banks join to participate in this scheme.”
