Fast-growing Nigerian fintech startup, NowNow Digital Systems has raised $13 million in its seed round to improve financial inclusion across Africa.
The funding round led by NeoVision Ventures Limited, 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 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 digitises cash payments for Africans.
The CEO & co-founder, NowNow, Sahir Berry said, “Today we 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.”
Berry emphasised that, “the credit facility will 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.”
Also, the managing partner of Capital V Limited, 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.”
The 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 utilise SIDFS’s rich data, library content, and resources to provide financial and digital literacy tools for its customers to ensure smart financial planning.
