Chipper Cash has officially become the fastest African startup to reach unicorn status within its three years of existence. The cross-border (Africa) payment platform currently in Series C, sealed a whopping $100 million.
Prior to this, the Chipper cash had in three rounds raised $152.2 million and in November 2020, closed $30 million in its Series B, led by Ribbit Capital and Jeff Bezos’ fund. In June, a $13.8 million Series B was raised while in 2019, the startup generated $8.4 million funding.
The leading investor for the Series C round was Silicon Valley Bank investment arm, SVB Capital. This marks SVB’s first venture into the African market. According to its managing director Tilli Bannett, SVB is investing in Chipper Cash because of how easy and beneficial it’s made the financial needs of Africans. Deciens Capital, One Way Ventures, Ribbit Capital, 500 Startups, Bezos Expeditions, Tribe Capital, and Brue2 Ventures, also formed part of the investor’s body aiding the $1 billion skyrocket value of Chipper Cash.
In November 2020, Chipper Cash boasted of a total of 80,000 transactions daily, while in June 2020, it processed $100 million in payments. Its Cash free mobile-money business is supported by the revenue from its Chipper Checkout, a merchant-focused, fee-based payment product.
With a quest to expand its tentacles globally, Chipper Cash recorded a 33% boost in its users last year. Spread across 8 African countries namely; Ghana, Uganda, Nigeria, Tanzania, Rwanda, South Africa, and Kenya, the company has an average of 4 million users. Soon, it’ll venture into the UK market.
The Series C fund will be utilized by introducing more products, specifically US stock offerings for users in Nigeria and Uganda, and expanding its workforce by opening up 100 vacancies.
Chipper Cash was founded in 2018 by tech genius duo Ham Serunjogi, a Ugandan, and Maijid Moujaled, a Ghanaian. The duo started the company in San Francisco, offering Chipper Cash users mobile-based, no fee, P2P payment services.
