Fingo, a YC-backed Kenyan fintech, launched its neobank, which it developed in collaboration with Pan-African financial institution Ecobank Kenya. The fintech got into YC S21 and raised USD 4 M in seed funding toward the end of that year. Multistage venture capital firm HOF Capital led the round with participation from Hustle Fund, Verdant Frontiers Fintech Fund, Goodwater Capital, Launch Africa, Chandaria Capital, Naiban (Nairobi Angel Network), Discovery Ventures, Chui Ventures, as well as from the co-founders of Monzo and Twitch and executives from Google, Facebook and Paytm. 

Fingo then signed a partnership with Ecobank and began integrating its software with the bank toward launch while simultaneously waiting for regulatory approval from the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK), which finally came in Q1 this year. According to the company, the Fingo Africa app will offer its users a bank account “under 5 minutes,” paired with free peer-to-peer transactions and immediate access to multiple services such as savings, financial education and smart spending analytics. It also claimed to have acquired 10,000 active users with a waitlist of 100,000 customers within 24 hours of launch.