PalmPay Launches In Nigeria After Securing USD 40 Mn USD In A Seed Round Led By Transsion

PalmPay, an Africa-focused payment startup has secured USD 40 Mn seed funding in a round led by Transsion Holdings, the renowned Chinese mobile phone manufacturer.

The funding was channeled through Tecno, Transsion’s subsidiary, with participation from one of the largest internet and video game companies in the world, NetEase and chip manufacturer, MediaTek.

The amount was used to launch PalmPay in Nigeria, following a pilot program and subsequent acquisition of a license as a mobile money operator in July from the Central Bank of Nigeria. Additionally, the funding will also go into expansion of the startup’s financial services in Ghana.

Reportedly, the move to launch in Nigeria was made in a bid to become the largest financial services platform in Africa.

Speaking to TechCrunch, PalmPay CEO Greg Reeves who formerly led the M-Pesa division for Vodafone, revealed that there were plans to expand to other African countries in 2020.

PalmPay, through its application allows mobile money transfer at no cost, bill payments and airtime purchase. Users also earn rewards from using the application.

As part of the deal, PalmPay will partner with mobile phone manufacturers under Transsion – Tecno, Itel and Infinix, where the startup’s application will be pre-installed on 20 million mobile phones in 2020, as reported by TechCrunch.

Transsion is however not the only major company to seal a deal with PalmPay. In April this year, the startup went into a partnership with multinational financial services corporation, Visa. This was to increase financial inclusion by offering customers a digital wallet to facilitate offline and online top up of funds.

Feature image courtesy: Twitter