Float, a Ghanaian cash management startup, has fully acquired Accounteer, a Nigerian cloud-based accounting service for an undisclosed amount.
The acquisition is coming eight months after Float-co-founded by Jesse Ghansah and Barima Effah Adjei in 2021-secured a $17 million investment.
According to Techcabal, the journey to take over Accounteer commenced in 2021 and it took 10 months to reach an agreement.
For Ghansah and Adjei, the key reason for the deal is to help businesses build proper accounting and bookkeeping practices ensuring that there are no conflicts between personal and business transactions.
The duo’s desire to solve this problem for Float customers led to this Accounteer acquisition.
Ghansah said he’s been monitoring some accounting startups since Float identified the accounting problem, and was “particularly impressed by Accounteer’s trajectory over the years to become the cloud accounting software choice for 14,000+ SMBs in Nigeria and beyond”. He believes the addition of Accounteer to Float’s ecosystem of products and services will be game-changing as they scale into new markets with the 2 businesses.
Ghansah and Adjei founded Swipe in 2020 to provide invoicing services to businesses. But in June 2021, the company rebranded to Float to extend credit to businesses against their receivables. That is, it gives loans to companies that are expecting to be paid by their clients after rendering a service but are urgently in need of liquidity to run their business.
Founded in 2015 by Merijn Campsteyn, Accounteer allows users to create invoices, track expenses and register payments, among other things. The venture-backed company provides accounting software that allows businesses to continue operations offline.
For Accounteer, the exit came as it was looking to provide credit to its over 14,000 users in and outside Nigeria.
Ghansah believes that Accounteer has built a solid enough business and will continue running independently under Float.
“Float would provide credit while Accounteer bookkeeping and accounting, we look forward to an exciting future with the team” he said. While Ghansah mentioned that most of the Accounteer talent pool would be joining Float, the CEO Campsetyn, who is currently helping with the redesigning and integration of both platforms, won’t be joining Float full-time but would serve as an advisor for now.
Float is currently operational in Nigeria and Ghana with a plan to expand into Kenya before the fourth quarter of this year.
