Fintech
London-based fintech raises £31m to expand beyond Africa
From left to right: Nicolas Esteves (CTO), Benjamin Fernandes (founder and CEO) and Nicolas Eddy (COO)
London-based money transfer company Nala has raised $40 million (£31.2 million) in funding to support its global expansion and improve reliability of payments to Africa.
THE Series A rounds was led by Lauren Kolodny, co-founder of Acrew Capital, with participation from DST Global, Amplo and previous investors.
Also in attendance were prominent fintech founders such as Ryan King of Chime, Vlad Tenev of Robinhood, and Niklas Adalberth of Klarna.
Nala said it would use the money to launch its own payment systems and develop a “robust payments infrastructure” for Africa. The company declined to comment on the valuation at which it raised the funds.
The fintech app allows users domiciled in the EU, UK and US to make payments in 11 African countries. Nala hopes to expand its remittance offering beyond Africa “for the global migrant diaspora.”
It is also developing a business-to-business platform that the company says is “designed to build the payments foundation for the next billion users” and improve payments in Africa, similar to how dLocal and AirWallex have “disrupted” markets in Latin America and Asia, respectively.
Nala achieved profitability last year after growing its revenue tenfold. It serves about 500,000 customers and employs more than 100 people.
The company previously raised $10 million (£7.8 million) through Accel, Amplo and Bessemer Partners in 2022.
Benjamin Fernandes, founder and CEO of Nala, said the latest round marked “a pivotal moment” for the company.
“It will enable us to go beyond remittances and extend our reach beyond Africa by building a robust payments ecosystem. We are reinvesting this money into improving our infrastructure, ensuring reliable and low-cost payments for all,” he added.
“With the launch of our payment systems and the expansion of our Rafiki B2B platform, we are not just talking about change, we are building it. We have some bold and ambitious plans. Give us a couple of years.”