East African’s Kopo Kopo lands $2.6 million in Series A Funding

Kopo Kopo, a merchant services platform serving thousands of businesses in East Africa, recently announced that it raised $2.6 million in Series A financing. Javelin Venture Partners led the round with Vinod Khosla’s Impact Fund, an existing investor. Accion Venture Lab also participated. Noah Doyle of Javelin Venture Partners will join Kopo Kopo’s board of directors.

In the last two years, Kopo Kopo has become a premier merchant services platform by partnering with mobile operators launching mobile money payment systems. Kopo Kopo’s end-to-end platform allows operators and other payment providers to acquire and manage merchants who wish to accept mobile money payments. The Company will use the new capital to hire top talent, expand its platform offering and accelerate global growth beyond East Africa with the goal of incorporating millions of merchants across the economic frontier into the formal financial system.

“Merchants in emerging markets — like merchants anywhere — need tools and services to grow their business,” said Dylan Higgins, Kopo Kopo’s co-founder and CEO. “Kopo Kopo, in partnership with rapidly growing mobile money systems like M-PESA, helps merchants succeed by moving their businesses onto a digital platform and empowering them with state-of-the-art software tools like remote monitoring, bank integrations, customer messaging, and even Android applications.”

“Mobile money has emerged as one of the fastest growing consumer products ever, with adoption rates reaching as high as 70% in only five years in Kenya. The Kopo Kopo platform creates a vital link in the mobile money ecosystem by allowing consumers to pay at the merchants of their choice, unlocking billions in potential demand. Javelin is thrilled to support Kopo Kopo’s mission to enable flexible mobile payments for merchants across emerging markets,” said Noah Doyle, a partner at Javelin Venture Partners.

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“Digital payment acceptance is a fundamental on-ramp to financial inclusion in the global economy and financial safety in the local context,” said Vinod Khosla. “Kopo Kopo is at the forefront of making this happen for merchants in Africa, and soon, around the world.”