Nigerian Fintech Startup, CredPal Secures $1.5m Investment

CredPal, a Nigerian fintech startup that offers consumer credit has raised $1.5million in a recent funding round as it launches its credit cards.

The investors include Y Combinator, a startup accelerator that provides seed funding to early-stage startups which CredPal was accepted into in 2019, GreenHouse Capital, a fintech investment holding company, a digital insurance company, and other VC Firms.

CredPal started its journey in 2018 with a simple yet efficient solution, providing point-of-sale consumer credit for lower-to-middle class income earners in Nigeria.

From their award at Visa Everywhere Initiative for Sub-Saharan Africa, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation-backed EFInA Grant, an alumnus of the YCombinator accelerator program in San Francisco, and now this funding, there is no slowing down for Fehintolu Olaogun and Olorunfemi Jegede, the founders of CredPal whose vision it is to make CredPal the financial backbone for consumer credit in Nigeria, Africa and beyond.

As part of its raise, the startup plans to expand its products and geographic reach. “We’re building the American Express of Africa, and our goal is to make credit cards mainstream across Africa as is obtainable in the United States and other advanced economies.

“With this funding, the growing market demand for consumer credit, and our recent product launch to solve these needs, we know that we’re on the right track,” the CEO and co-founder, Fehintolu Olaogun said.

Building on the success of its point-of-sale infrastructure, CredPal has maintained a strong hold in the consumer lending space and is rapidly growing, first with this funding and now the launch of their credit cards that are serving the needs of Nigerian customers.

Although, credit cards are not a popular phenomenon in Nigeria, the co-founders, Fehintolu and Olorunfemi believe that they have what it takes to drive adoption and usability in Nigeria before venturing into the rest of the continent.

The company sees itself mainstreaming credit cards for the average employed Nigerian.

“With this funding, we’re working on ways to provide more information and education about credit cards, the value of owning one, and the benefits that come with it.

“We are obsessed with the desire to see that working professionals no longer have a thing to worry about as it concerns dealing with their financial needs, a world in which every working person is rewarded with a CredPal card that has their back. A world in which they can embrace life today and live more,” Fehintolu said.

“For a long while, we had demanded from our customers to offer services where they can access credit rather than just processing payments for them at the point-of-sale.

“With our current raise and the launch of our credit cards, we’re confident about meeting these customers’ needs.” Olorunfemi, COO, and co-founder.