Kuda raises $25m in new Series A funding

Kuda, a Nigerian-based digital bank, has raised $25 million in a series A funding led by Valar Ventures, the firm co-founded and backed by Peter Thiel, with Target Global and other unnamed investors participating.

This brings total funds raised to $36.5 million having raised $10 million late last year and $1.6 million in pre-seed funding in 2019

Founded in 2019 by Babs Ogundeyi (CEO) and Musty Mustapha (CTO, Kuda has a microfinance banking license from the central bank of Nigeria so it does not partner with other banks to manage and bank deposits.

The bank claims it has 650,000 customers, over one million downloads on play store and processed over $2 billion in transactions during February 2021, up from $5.2 million in February 2020

According to Babs Ogundeyi, “At Kuda, we know that the companies which are best able to leverage technology and talent will be the same companies which are best positioned to provide huge numbers of people across Africa with access to a vastly improved financial system that places the customer at its center. We recognize the great strides that we have taken to get to the point at which we are now, but even more importantly we recognize just how far we still have to go to achieve our objective of providing every African with access to powerful, appropriate and affordable financial services.

“With this in mind, we could not be more pleased that Valar Ventures has decided to come on board and join us on this mission. Their insights and experience in helping advise some of the world’s most successful challenger banks will without doubt be a critical part of our successes going forward.” he adds

“Nigeria is at a tipping point in the adoption of digital banking,” noted Andrew McCormack, a general partner, and co-founder at Valar. “With the rapidly growing, youthful population who are open to new financial alternatives, Kuda is well-positioned to benefit and will transform the landscape of African banking. We are excited to lead their Series A and continue on the journey alongside Kuda.”

Kuda offers checking accounts with no monthly-fees, a free debit card. It is currently piloting Kuda overdrafts. The pilot is available to a limited number of eligible people who were chosen at random to be part of our pilot program