Nigerian fintech, Kippa, raises $3.2m in pre-seed funding to improve SME financial management function

Nigerian fintech startup, Kippa announced that it has raised $3.2 million in a pre-seed funding round led by Berlin-based VC Target Global. Other VCs that participated in the round include Entrée Capital, Alter Global and Rally Cap Ventures.

A host of angel investors were also part of the funding round including Babs Ogundeyi, Kuda CEO; Sriram Krishnan, an investor in Khatabook; Raffael Johnen, Auxmoney CEO; Chris Bouwer; Kyane Kassiri; Edward Suh of Goodwater Capital; and Sajid Rahman.

Founded in CEO Kennedy Ekezie, Duke Ekezie and Jephthah Uche in February 2021, Kippa is financial management platform specifically developed for SMEs to manage their businesses. It is a bookkeeping app that helps businesses manage their finances, track and keep records of their income and expenses, as well as send reminders to debtors.

This is the second startup by the trio which founded Africave, a software talent matching platform in 2019 but closed it in 2020 after recognizing constraints at the supply of talents that would put a cap on the company’s growth.

Kippa says it will be investing the funds in growing its merchant base, improving its product, scaling the team, and venturing into financial services.

According to Lina Chong, Target Global’s investment director, “Our investment in Kippa will enable it to grow and be the first-choice financial management solution for small businesses in Africa.”

Kippa claims to have grown an average of 126% month-on-month since launching in June and recored more that $300 million in that same period. It currently boasts of over 130,000 active businesses, ranging from small kiosks and street corner shops to local food vendors and high-end merchants using the app.

Kippa is available for download from the Google Playstore and the Apple Appstore