BFREE, a Nigerian credit management fintech business, has received a pre-Series A fundraising round of US $1.7 million and reinforced its management team in preparation for worldwide development.
BFREE, founded in August 2020 by Chukwudi Enyi, Moses Nmor, and Julian Flosbach, provides financial institutions in emerging areas with ethical digital-first credit collection solutions. The firm currently oversees collection operations for more than 30 digital lenders, microfinance banks, and commercial banks in Nigeria and Kenya after 16 months in business.
BFREE has obtained a US $1.7 million pre-Series A investment from 4Di Capital, Octerra Capital, VestedWorld, Voltron Capital, Logos Ventures, and numerous undisclosed business angels, after a US $800,000 seed round in May last year. The fresh cash will be used to expand globally and greatly boost the company.
“Interest rates for retail borrowers in emerging markets are still very high, strongly driven by high default rates and lack of infrastructure. With BFREE’s collection product we can decrease default rates which will also lead to a decrease in the borrower’s cost of capital in the long term,” Flosach, BFREE’s chief executive officer (CEO), said.
“Access to finance is a key driver of economic development and borrowers deserve lower cost of capital. We will make sure that they get it,” he said.
Moses Nmor, the startup’s chief product officer, expressed excitement about not just continuing to improve the startup’s collections product but also launching new products that would revolutionise credit risk management in emerging economies.
BFREE was 4Di Capital’s first investment in Nigeria, according to Anton van Vlaanderen.
“The company has gained incredible traction very early on, which just shows the huge opportunity in the credit management industry in emerging markets. We are now bullish on their expansion plans into markets such as India, Brazil and Egypt,” he said.
