Nigerian ISP startup Tizeti has raised a US$3 million Series A round to expand its consumer-facing brand Wifi.com.ng into Ghana.
Tizeti deploys high-speed internet access using next generation Wi-Fi technology, with no data or time caps, via its Wifi.com.ng brand.
The startup raised US$2.1 million in seed funding last year, and has now closed a Series A round of US$3 million, led by 4DX Ventures with participation from existing investors Y Combinator Continuity, Lynett Capital, Social Capital, Western Technology Investment, Friále and Golden Palm Investments.
Tizeti will use the investment to expand operations outside of Nigeria, and will launch a new consumer-facing brand Wifi.Africa later this year, starting with neighbouring West African country Ghana.
The company will also make additional investments in operations, product development and overall customer experience, with a view toward growing profitability exponentially. Since graduating from Y Combinator’s Winter 2017 batch, Tizeti has installed over 7,000 public Wi-Fi hotspots within Nigeria with 150,000 users. It covers over 70 per cent of Lagos.
“Tizeti was built to tackle poor internet connectivity not only in Nigeria, but on the continent as a whole, by developing a cost-effective solution from inception to delivery, for reliable and uncapped internet access for potentially millions of Africans. We have grown rapidly in the Nigerian market in the last 12 months and expect to continue on this trajectory, as millions more Africans come online,” said Kendall Ananyi, chief executive officer (CEO) and co-founder of Tizeti.
“This Series A investment allows us to continue providing a peerless service in Nigeria, building out our customer base there, as well as scale across Africa, starting with Ghana.”
As part this financing round, 4DX Ventures co-founder and managing partner Walter Baddoo will join Tizeti’s board of directors.
“Reducing the cost of data in Africa is a critical step in accelerating the pace of internet adoption across the continent,” Baddoo said.
“Tizeti, driven by a stellar company culture, has built a world-class network that delivers data to users at a fraction of the current cost. Tizeti makes it easier and cheaper to connect Africa to the global digital economy and we are excited to partner with Kendall and his team on this mission.”
