Grace Ashiru
Tanzanian payments company Nala has secured $40 million in Series A funding, which it plans to use for its global expansion and to strengthen its payment systems across Africa. Based in Kenya, Nala is a fintech startup enabling money transfers from the UK, US, and EU to Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, and Ghana.
This new funding comes on the heels of a $10 million seed round in 2022 and will further improve the reliability of its African payment systems by establishing its own payment infrastructure, the company said.
Nala’s investment round attracted funding from global firms like San Francisco-based Acrew Capital, DST Global, Amplo, and other angel investors.
In a post on X, Nala’s Founder and CEO, Benjamin Fernandes, highlighted how this new capital would fast-track the company’s global expansion efforts, focusing on its Nala Money App and its business-to-business (B2B) payment platform, Rafiki API.
“This funding allows us to go beyond remittances and scale beyond Africa, building a comprehensive payments ecosystem. We’re reinvesting to enhance our infrastructure, ensuring affordable, reliable payments for everyone,” Fernandes said. “With our own payment rails and the growth of our B2B platform Rafiki, we’re not just talking about change – we’re building it. We have bold, ambitious plans, so stay tuned for the next couple of years.”
Nala’s growth trajectory in recent years has been remarkable. Fernandes shared that the Series A funding followed a tenfold revenue increase over the past year.
“For the first time, we are profitable and cash flow positive. Our transaction volume has surged 34 times over the last 20 months,” he said.
The company has expanded from a seven-member team to nearly 100 employees, now serving nearly 500,000 customers globally.
In March 2023, Nala committed to investing $1 million in Tanzania to create jobs and foster product innovation after receiving a Payment Service Provider (PSP) license to operate.
