Moniepoint gets more money
Visa’s strategic investment into Moniepoint.
Late last year, Moniepoint raised 110 million dollars (USD) at a billion-dollar valuation, becoming Nigeria’s latest unicorn. We talked about how the company started and got to this point here. The new investment from Visa, which is rumoured to be about 10 million USD, brings the total money raised in the series C to over 120 million USD.
The companies have said that the funding is a strategic one focused on driving financial access, inclusion, and economic growth across Africa. The Visa representative said, “Visa’s investment in Moniepoint is the latest example of our long-standing commitment to advancing digital economies in Africa.” Meanwhile, Moniepoint’s CEO highlighted the partnership as an “exciting opportunity in shaping the continent’s economic future even as we pave the way for a more inclusive and dynamic financial ecosystem.”
Visa will join a long list of investors who are betting on Moniepoint’s operational and strategic expertise that has succeeded in Nigeria, to unlock the African informal MSME market and scale to international markets.
So what?
As we mentioned in our last article on Moniepoint’s billion-dollar valuation, Moniepoint has expressed a desire to expand to “the rest of the world” with a focus on the UK, EU, and Latin America. This partnership with Visa fits perfectly into this vision. Visa also has stated ambitions for the African continent, with the global tech company making direct investments in prominent African Fintechs including Paystack and Interswitch.
The most immediate way this partnership will benefit Visa is an improved relationship with Moniepoint, which is set to be one of the biggest card issuers in the market if their business and personal banking strategy works out. More importantly, Moniepoint is seeking to expand across the African continent and into Europe and Latin America. The ability for Moniepoint to enter and grow in those markets will be fundamental to helping Visa grow its other business lines in those markets. Moniepoint will seek to partner with Visa and leverage Visa’s international reach and experience to help it enter and grow in those markets. Meanwhile, Moniepoint’s success will create opportunities for Visa to grow its other services like cybersecurity, payments processing, and AI by providing these services to an emerging Moniepoint.
The partnership has the potential to be beneficial to both parties. Visa invests an insignificant sum of money (insignificant to Visa of course) and gets a potential market-creating partnership, while Moniepoint gets a globally recognized partner in their quest for international expansion.