Grace Ashiru
Bujeti, the African corporate cards and spend management platform, has successfully secured $2 million in seed funding. The startup, which plays a crucial role in assisting African businesses, ranging from SMBs to startups and enterprises, in effectively managing and navigating their finances, garnered this funding from lead investor Y Combinator. Other notable backers include Entrée Capital, Voltron Capital, Unpopular V.C., Kima Ventures, Arash Ferdowsi (co-founder of Dropbox), Alan Rutledge, Tristan Walker (Heirloom V.C.), and Abdul Hassan (CEO of Mono).
Bujeti focuses on serving businesses across various sectors, such as healthcare, logistics, agriculture, and construction. The platform simplifies the issuance of corporate cards to employees and contractors, streamlining spending processes. With a robust set of features, Bujeti empowers businesses to control and manage expenses efficiently efficiently. This includes implementing spending limits, restrictions, and approval flows tailored to different stakeholders in the business chain, including executives, staff, contractors, and vendors.
The startup has officially communicated that the latest infusion of funds will expedite its expansion, bolster its market footprint, and enrich its services. The forthcoming roadmap outlines plans to roll out credit lines catering to small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) and craft new products designed for enterprise use.
Established in April 2022 by Cossi Achille Arouko, the founder, CEO, and COO Samy Chiba, this two-year-old fintech venture has made significant strides. Before committing their full attention to the YC W23 startup, both leaders laid the groundwork by initiating the development of a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) during their previous professional engagements. Chiba, having served as a project manager at the French commercial launch service provider Ariane Space, and Arouko, who previously contributed to the African payments startup Paystack as the tech lead for commerce, subscriptions, and invoices, collectively shaped the inception of Bujeti.
During the period when Paystack was contemplating the introduction of an API for card issuance, Arouko shared insights in a TechCrunch interview. While overseeing subscriptions and collections, he and his team recognized a vital need to support businesses in expense management. This realization laid the foundation for Bujeti’s initial concept. Conceived initially as a business-to-consumer platform, Bujeti aimed to empower users to generate cards through the Paystack API. It also intended to streamline expense management, facilitate online remittance payments, and automate remittance processes for individuals located beyond the continent. However, the platform later underwent a strategic shift, redirecting its focus towards servicing businesses a few months later.
During my tenure serving consumers, I conducted research and identified Paystack as a common choice among various players, including Divvy (now BILL) in the U.S. Recognizing a similar approach tailored for businesses, I observed Divvy’s use at Paystack, where each employee managed expenses, cards, and reimbursement requests. Witnessing platforms like Divvy addressing expense management in the U.S., Europe, and Nigeria, I realized the potential for a similar service in our market. Notable global examples include unicorns Ramp and Brex.
