Ivory Coast-based startup CinetPay, a digital finance platform that enables merchants in Francophone Africa to seamlessly accept and make payments, has raised a US$2.4 million seed funding round from 4DX Ventures and Flutterwave to boost its sales and marketing efforts across nine markets in West and Central Africa.
Since its 2016 launch in Ivory Coast, CinetPay has processed over 30 million transactions for 350 active merchants in nine countries, including Senegal, Cameroon, Mali and Togo. Its platform provides a single interface for businesses to process over 130 different payment operators, from mobile money to credit and debit cards and e-wallets, eliminating the need for merchants to spend months integrating with different systems in order to manage sales and revenues.
Used by a broad range of businesses from e-commerce platforms to digital public services, insurance companies and schools, CinetPay simplifies the process of accepting payments online or via mobile Point of Sale (PoS) devices with best in class security protocols. The US$2.4 million seed round from VC firm 4DX and pan-African fintech unicorn Flutterwave is aimed at expanding its sales efforts and building its customer base.
By bringing Flutterwave onboard, CinetPay is building on a successful commercial partnership that has evolved since 2019.
“For a first institutional investment, we couldn’t have asked for two better partners in 4DX Ventures and Flutterwave,” said Idriss Marcial Monthe, chief executive officer (CEO) and co-founder of CinetPay.
“We’ve watched first-hand as thousands of merchants waste crucial time, even up to six months, getting their payment systems in order. Now we’ve got the resources to market and sell our optimal solution across the region and we’re excited to ensure that all businesses in our region never miss a sale again. We have selected highly-strategic partners as investors and are excited about the immediate next steps we take together in terms of simplifying and improving digital payments in Francophone Africa.”
Walter Baddoo, co-founder and general partner at 4DX Ventures, said his firm had been tracking the Francophone African market for some time now, and had been impressed by CinetPay’s ambitious goal to digitise payments across the region.
“The company has demonstrated deep product knowledge with a differentiated offering and a strong brand with customers. We look forward to partnering with the CinetPay team alongside our long-time portfolio company, Flutterwave, to help usher in the next phase of digital payments across the Francophone region,” he said.
Flutterwave founder and CEO Olugbenga Agboola his company and CinetPay had a shared vision for simplifying payments on the continent.
“CinetPay is well positioned for the next chapter of growth and we’re excited to work with the team to help scale the business to achieve maximum impact and value for its customers,” he said.
