Financial inclusion in West Africa gets a boost with new $10m raise by Aella Fintech
Financial inclusion in West Africa gets a boost with new $10m raise by Aella Fintech
Aella has made a visible impact on the lives of more than 300k borrowers
across its Employer Backed and Direct to Consumer Verticals, who now
have access to simple financial products
LAGOS, Nigeria, February 10, 2020/ --
Focused on improving financial inclusion for West Africa’s low-income
segment, a Nigerian fintech start-up, Aella (https://AellaCredit.com/) has raised a $10m debt financing round, from HQ Financial Group (HQF), Singapore-based private company specializing in new material science,
semiconductor and blockchain financial investments. This debt financing
round is Aella’s second raise and will bolster the company’s commitment
to serve the underbanked population in West Africa and other emerging
markets.
Aella was founded in late 2015 by Akin Jones, CEO (right) and Akanbi
Wale, CTO (left) in Lagos, Nigeria and has remained committed to
building trustworthy credit for emerging markets with an initial focus
on Nigeria and the Philippines, where the company is licensed to
operate. Aella has made a visible impact on the lives of more than 300k
borrowers across its Employer Backed and Direct to Consumer Verticals,
who now have access to simple financial products.
For millions of poor and low-income households, entrepreneurs, and
nascent businesses in West Africa without access to financial
institutions, micro-lending fintechs like Aella provide a broader array
of financial products — savings, insurance, payments and specialized
loans, focused on lifting many out of poverty. Aella plans to use this
funding to scale its lending operations and expand its product base into payments.
“Lack of access to credit and financial services has been the main
impediment to MSME growth and poverty reduction in several emerging
economies. Aella’s commitment to providing trustworthy credit to
millions of people in the world’s emerging markets is improving
financial inclusion, enabling MSME expansion and accelerating economic
growth and this raise will allow us scale our expansion across Africa
quickly”, said Aella CEO, Akin Jones.
Aella will also invest in new products including a blockchain-based
lending market called Creditcoin, to build borrower creditworthiness and aid in the acquisition of one million additional users by the end of
2020, making it the largest blockchain backed financial services project that is currently operational.
“We are building a one-stop app for all transactions partnered with
regulated industry leaders to help distribute products faster, better
and cheaper to end-users in Nigeria and across the markets we plan to
launch. This app will allow users access multiple financial services at
low costs compared to what is currently available in market”, Jones
added.
Sun Han Gyu, Chief Executive Officer of HQ Financial Group said “We are
excited to announce our partnership with Aella Credit which will
significantly aid in the proliferation of micro-loan services to the
underserved African populations who are unable to access banking
services. HQF is impressed with their outstanding growth with very low
default rate in the micro-loan business in Nigeria and look forward,
through this initial investment of $10m to new growth opportunities in
Africa and South Asia”. HQF has deployed over $70m in investments since
2015.
Aella previously raised $2m seed funding at the US startup program, Y
Combinator from seed investors including Micheal Seibel of Y Combinator, Brian Armstrong of Coinbase, Bill Paladino (former head of Naspers
eCommerce), Tae Oh, Shawntae Spencer (former San Francisco 49ers
Cornerback), VY Capital, 500 Startups, Gluwa and others, which enabled
it invest in digitalization and technology.
Over the last two years, the company has achieved significant growth
with a 2-year compound annual user growth rate of 674%, over 193%
increase in revenue and maintained a single-digit default rate. Aella
was also recognized by Amazon as one of the world’s leading financial
organizations pioneering the use of facial recognition technology for
customer authentication and credit scoring.
This raise marks the conclusion of the start-up’s evolution to a
full-service lending and payments platform, poised to play a greater
role in providing a wide bouquet of financial services across Africa.
Aella is focused on expanding across Africa and South East Asia enabling users to access a wide range of fast, convenient, and secure financial
services. The company’s application will allow users to have access to
loans, invest safely and securely, affordable insurance plans, bill
payments and peer-to-peer money transfers.
About Aella:
Aella (https://AellaCredit.com/) is a leading African fintech start-up based in Lagos Nigeria with
offices in San Francisco and Manila. The company focuses on simplifying
finance in emerging markets by offering access to loans, bill payments
and, in the immediate future, affordable insurance plans and other
similar services that are simple and safe. Aella aims to make a
significant contribution to Africa’s fintech ecosystem by helping to
build a sustainable digital economy.
Financial inclusion in West Africa gets a boost with new $10m raise by Aella Fintech
Financial inclusion in West Africa gets a boost with new $10m raise by Aella Fintech
Financial inclusion in West Africa gets a boost with new $10m raise by Aella Fintech
Financial inclusion in West Africa gets a boost with new $10m raise by Aella Fintech
Financial inclusion in West Africa gets a boost with new $10m raise by Aella Fintech
Play online games for free at games.easybranches.com
Guest Post Services www.easybranches.com/contribute