Africa’s fintech space has started gaining attention from investors in recent years. Recently, we saw startups in this category such as Cleva and Zuvy raise funding. Now, Nigerian fintech Zone has hit the headlines by raising $8.5 million in an oversubscribed seed funding round led by VC firms Flourish Ventures and TLcom Capital (invested in Pastel and Vendease).
Other investors in this round include international blockchain-focused VC firms Digital Currency Group (DCG), VKAV (Verod-Kepple Africa Ventures) and Alter Global, each bringing niche sector expertise and credibility.
Growth and expansion plans
Now, the payment infrastructure company will use the funding to further expand the coverage of its network domestically and connect more banks and financial services companies. A significant portion of the proceeds will also be allocated to conducting a comprehensive pilot programme to test the company’s cross-border capabilities, scheduled for 2025.
A key priority of Zone is to ensure that it is well-prepared to extend its footprint across Africa to support intra-African and international payments which will bring the company closer to its vision of becoming a global payment network.
Enables transition to digital currencies
Zone was founded by Emeka Emetarom, Obi Emetarom and Wale Onawunmi in 2008 in Lagos, Nigeria. It has built a blockchain-based decentralised payment infrastructure for financial services providers across the continent and beyond.
By harnessing the power of blockchain, Zone’s blockchain network delivers reliable, frictionless and universally interoperable payment experiences at scale to financial service providers and their customers. Zone has a unique position as Africa’s first regulated blockchain network for payments and has already signed up over 15 of Africa’s largest banks and fintech companies.
Commenting on the funding round, Obi Emetarom, CEO and co-founder of Zone, said: “The participation of high-quality investors despite the funding drought and the fact that we had more interested investors than we needed, is a sign of trust in the Zone brand and investor excitement about the opportunity to redefine payment infrastructure in Africa. As we step into this new phase at Zone, we are re-energized and our commitment to transforming Africa’s payment infrastructure is renewed.”
Ameya Upadhyay, Partner at Flourish Ventures, said: “For the first time in Africa, Zone’s technology enables direct communication between participants in the payment ecosystem. We believe this is a fundamental leap that will allow customers to experience a completely new standard of reliability, speed, and cost efficiency at the ATM, at POS machines, and online. We are excited by the potential for Zone’s technology to be replicated across borders to advance payment innovation globally. The fact that Zone is led by Obi and Wale who are veterans of the banking industry reinforces our conviction that Zone can fulfil our shared goal of moving the entire sector forward.”
Ido Sum, Partner at TLcom Capital, said: “We are thrilled to partner with Obi Emetarom and Wale Onawunmi, co-founders of Zone, on their journey to build a category-defining fintech company that is using advanced blockchain technology to solve a critical payments system challenge. The Company’s innovative infrastructure has the potential to deliver tremendous value to financial institutions, enhancing the overall payment experience for end-users and driving down costs for hundreds of millions of consumers and businesses that rely on digital payments in Africa every day.”
