Africa-owned Fintech Firms, Chipper Cash and Esusu Named in Forbes Fintech 50 List 2022
Africa-owned fintech firms, Chipper Cash which facilitates cross-border payments across Africa, and Esusu, a digital payment solution designed to simplify and automate the process of thrift savings, collection, microcredit, and financial inclusion for Africans have been named in the prestigious Forbes Fintech 50 list, 2022; Chipper Cash under Payments and Esusu under Personal Finance categories.
The African fintech sector has witnessed tremendous investment and all-around growth in recent times. According to a report from Chrunchbase, in 2021, the sector raised a new all-time high of $2 billion, surpassing the previous record of $773 million raised in 2018 by 159% and overshadowing 2020’s figure of $230 million by a staggering X8.
Some of the startups that have boosted the continent’s worldwide recognition in the fintech sector are now being recognized by the prestigious Forbes Magazine.
Announcing the names of Forbes Fintech 50 list 2022 which comprised mostly of new companies the magazine said, “The result was a gusher of promising new businesses, with half of the 2022 Fintech 50 winners new to our annual list. That’s the most since our inaugural list in 2015, when all 50 were, by definition, first-timers. One new standout is Chipper Cash, a San Francisco-based startup launched by two twentysomethings from Uganda and Ghana that helps Africans transfer money cheaply, buy U.S. stocks and invest in crypto. Founded in 2018, it already has more than five million users and a $2.2 billion valuation. As always, our list is restricted to still-private companies with headquarters or substantial operations in the U.S.”
Chipper Cash boasts of over 4 million users with 40,000 new users daily, has an average transaction time of 0.03 seconds, and carries out 80,000 transactions per day. It makes sending and receiving money across Africa with free transfers and low cross-border rates.
The fintech startup closed a $100 million Series C round in 2021 to introduce more products and grow its team. This followed its $30 million Series B led by Ribbit Capital and Jeff Bezos fund Bezos Expeditions, before which it closed a $13.8 million Series A round from Deciens Capital and other investors in June 2020.
Chipper Cash secured a $150 million extension round in the last quarter of 2021 which boosted its valuation to $2 billion and made it a unicorn.
Esusu, the second African startup on the list is a financial technology platform focused on helping individuals save money and build credit. It simplifies and automates thrift savings, collection, microcredit, it and financial inclusion on the continent.
It attained a unicorn status early this year after raising $130 million in a Series B round led by SoftBank Vision Fund 2, having closed a $10 million Series A funding round, led by Motley Fool Ventures with Investment from Serena Williams’ Serena Ventures.