Fast-growing Nigerian fintech startup, NowNow Digital Systems has raised $13M in its seed round to improve financial inclusion across Africa by providing financial services to the unbanked and underbanked in the continent. The funding round led by NeoVision Ventures Ltd., DLF Family Office, and Shadi Abdulhadi heralds NowNow’s plans to scale and expand its service offerings across Africa.
With the newly secured funds, NowNow says it will drive financial empowerment as well as introduce new products which will further enhance its already existing consumer banking, agency banking, and merchant payment solutions.
Equipped with a rapidly growing product suite and highly agile technology platform, NowNow seeks to build the world’s best technology that digitizes cash payments for Africans.
CEO & Co-founder of NowNow, Sahir Berry
Commenting on the fundraising, CEO & Co-founder of NowNow, Sahir Berry, said: “Today we announce that we have moved to the next stage of our commitment to drive financial access and empowerment for Africans at the last mile. With the secured funding, we look to not only provide services that include everyone financially but also upscale our agile ecosystem which ensures that our multidimensional offering remains a market leader. The credit facility will also support our unique strategy to advance financial inclusion and independence through financial education. The interest and backing of our investors will enable us to grow our world-class team as we would be unveiling innovative products and services.”
Mahesh Nair, Co-founder and Chief Operating Officer, NowNow Digital Systems
Managing Partner of Capital V Ltd, Gary Peters, said: “One of the key elements that propelled us to invest in NowNow through one of our funds is based on the founders’ tenacity to grow the company to a viable level, as well as overcoming many challenges and market cycles since its inception in 2018. Its core business and vision of digitizing the African region through facilitating daily payment services is also another important element. Whenever we meet a company founder like Sahir Berry, whose leadership’s vision aligns with Capital V’s fund of funds strategy to back disruptive and high-potential start-ups, especially in emerging markets like Africa, the decision process becomes easier.”
NowNow is focused on solving everyday financial challenges by creating the largest fintech ecosystem in Africa as well as supporting the financial inclusion goal in the continent. The innovative fintech platform was recently selected to participate in the Mastercard Start Path Global program created to help later-stage startups innovate and scale.
A financial literacy report from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) shows that most Nigerians want training and information on financial concepts such as long-term financial planning, budgeting, financial products and services, risk management, the financial security of their dependents, and insurance. While the CBN’s report reveals that there is genuine interest in financial literacy, it also reveals a significant knowledge gap.
Proceeds from NowNow’s seeding round will focus on improving Africa’s financial inclusivity and help bridge the gap between the banked and unbanked in Nigeria. The African B2B and B2C FinTech company, recently partnered with the Lagos Business School’s (LBS) Sustainable Inclusive Digital Financial Services (SIDFS) to initiate a financial education and literacy program aimed at driving Nigeria’s financial inclusion growth. NowNow will utilize SIDFS’s rich data, library content, and resources to provide financial and digital literacy tools for its customers to ensure smart financial planning.
NowNow is on a mission to deliver best-in-class financial services to SMEs, banking agents, and consumers, and to provide financial empowerment to Africans. Some of NowNow’s customers in Nigeria, have never had a bank account, so it is the company’s social mission to provide the proper educational support. With the funding, NowNow aims to advance the introduction of other innovative solutions in the region to help create a more financially inclusive continent.
