Nigerian FinTech startup, Kuda Bank, raises $55 million in a Series B funding round at a $500 million valuation as the mobile-only bank seeks to expand into other African countries.
This round of capital was co-led by Valar Ventures and Target Global, with participation from Strategic Business Investor and past angel investors, according to a report.
“Kuda has always been dedicated to building a pan-African bank, not just a Nigerian leader,” according to Ricardo Schäfer, Target Global partner.
Kuda’s CEO, Babs Ogundeyi, added that Kuda’s initial business model was originally created to offer banking products that were still with legacy banks, but that has been changing as more people “are paying in and out of their accounts.”
The Kuda Bank Overdraft product is something that the company feels is indicative of what’s to come in the future. “It’s a unique product, an overdraft that we pre-qualify the most active users for,” Ogundeyi noted.
According to the digital bank’s 2021 second-quarter report, it had over 200,000 qualified users and extended in excess of $20 million in credit.
Kuda Bank, originally incorporated in 2018 as Kudimoney before becoming Kuda in 2019, was founded by Babs Ogundeyi and Musty Mustapha.
Last year, the London-headquartered bank raised $10 million following a funding round. In March 2021, the bank raised $25 million in a Series A funding round. The digital bank also raised $15,000 and $1.6 million in pre-seed funds in 2018 and 2019, respectively.