Nigerian early-stage fund Microtraction has invested in fintech startups CowryWise and Bitkoin Africa, with more investments set to be announced in the next few weeks.
Launched in July of last year, early-stage investment platform Microtraction plans to invest US$65,000 in startups at the very earliest stage of their development.
It has now announced its first two investments, with both deals completed at the end of last year. The amount of each investment has not been disclosed. Founder and managing partner Yele Bademosi told Disrupt Africa more investments will be announced in the coming weeks.
CowryWise is a secure automated service that helps users save money and enjoy high returns from risk-free investments in Nigeria with zero fees.
“With CowryWise the opportunity is massive. They are offering a wonderful product that solves a genuine problem which is also difficult for the existing competition to offer, creating a sustainable moat,” said Bademosi.
“They need to scale very fast over the next 12-18 months and continue to increase the customers they have on the platform.”
Bitkoin Africa, meanwhile, offers users an easy and secure way to trade bitcoin, litecoin, ethereum, and bitcoin cash in Africa.
“Our investment in Bitkoin Africa is the true definition of microtraction. I believe when a good opportunity, in this case, a large, fast-growing market, meets a good entrepreneur, great things happen,” Bademosi said.
“This investment is about convexity, that is, we have limited downside and unlimited upside. The downside is the total loss of our investment capital but the upside is being able to play a role in helping build a company that democratises not just access to cryptocurrencies, but an open financial infrastructure that has the potential to enable a variety of things from remittances, credit, insurance, capital formation to decentralised store of value. I believe that the founders of Bitkoin Africa are well suited to navigate the opportunities or challenges to come.”
You can read Disrupt Africa’s full interview with Bademosi as part of our Meet the Investor series here.
