ImaliPay, a Nigerian fintech firm focused on the gig economy, has acquired $3 million in a seed round to expand its financial services infrastructure in Kenya, Nigeria, and South Africa.
ImaliPay, co-founded by Tatenda Furusa and Sanmi Akinmusire in 2020, allows new and existing gig workers or freelancers to save their earnings and get in-kind loans through a purchase now, pay later model related to their profession.
After raising some investment in March of last year, the firm started in South Africa in December, after previously operating in Nigeria and Kenya. Leonnis Investments, as well as Uncovered Fund, MyAsia VC, Sajid Rahman, KSK Angels, Jedar Capital, Logos Ventures, Plug N Play Ventures, Untapped Global, Latam Ventures, Cliff Angels, Chandaria Capital, Changecom, and other angels from Serbia, Kenya, and Norway, participated in the $3 million seed round.
ImaliPay received the funding, which is a mix of debt and equity, after gaining a lot of traction. It has already executed over 200,000 transactions and increased its user base by 60 times. Bolt, Glovo, SWVL, Amitruck, Safeboda, Gokada, and Max.ng are some of ImaliPay’s important partners. It also works with Flutterwave, Paystack, and Cellulant, three of Africa’s major licenced payment providers. Lami, Britam, Sanlam, Mycover clever, Cowrywise, Cornerstone, Ola Energy, Total Energies, Ti-Auto Corporation, and HiFI Corporation are among the merchant partners.
“Our seed funding will go towards bringing on key recruits, improving technology and exploring new markets,” said Akinmusire.
“Our drive to start and keep ImaliPay soaring is firmly rooted in the impact we would like to make in fostering financial security in the gig economy, serving the underbanked and walking them through a tailored journey of financial inclusion. Having strong partners and investors around the table is a show of good faith that we are building key services for the future of work,” said Furusa.
“Fuelling disruptive startups and building ecosystems is the heartbeat of our investment model at Ten13, we’re excited to follow on and be part of ImaliPay’s journey as they re-shape the future of financial services for the African gig economy,” said Stew Glynn, co-founder and managing partner at Ten13.
