Nigerian financial services comparison platform TopCheck has been acquired by South Africa’s Silvertree Internet Holdings, for an undisclosed amount.
Launched in December 2014, the TopCheck platform allows users to compare prices of financial products such as various types of insurance, and loans. Users can receive a tailored quote on their desired product online and directly contact the service provider with the most attractive conditions.
Disrupt Africa reported the startup closed two funding rounds in its first year of operation. First, a six digit Euro figure; followed by EUR1 million (US$1.15 million) later in 2015.
TopCheck has now been acquired by Silvertree, and will join Silvertree’s subsidiary Compare Africa Group (CAG), which offers online price comparison of goods and services across South Africa, Kenya and Nigeria.
CAG was previously a competitor of TopCheck, and both sides to the deal said the acquisition paves the way for the creation of an unified Africa-wide price comparison conglomerate.
“The TopCheck team is excited to join forces with Compare Africa Group. Together, we are forming Africa’s undisputed leader in price comparison,” said TopCheck co-founder Thomas Pilar.
“While our two companies had been competitors before, our strategies are completely in line: to be the number one online destination to acquire financial services in Africa. With TopCheck’s market position in Nigeria, and Silvertree’s wide reach throughout Africa, we look forward to further accelerating the company’s growth across the continent.”
Pilar and co-founder Christian Wiesner will stand down as managing directors (MDs) of TopCheck with immediate effect, and CAG’s MD Ryan Marx takes over.
