Tanzania-founded fintech startup NALA has raised US$40 million to fuel its international expansion and launch its own payment rails for Africa and beyond.
NALA is an African payments company and money transfer app that enables users to make secure and reliable payments from Europe, the UK and US to Tanzania, Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda and Ghana in seconds. Last year, it launched in the European Union (EU), adding 19 new countries to its list of send countries and aiding its mission of connecting Africans globally.
In the last year, NALA has achieved a 10x increase in revenue, reached profitability, and had positive cash flow, while in the last 20 months it has seen a 34x increase in transaction volume. It is now planning further growth, and further international expansion, after raising US$40 million in Series A funding, in a round led by Acrew Capital with participation from DST Global Partners, Amplo, Norrsken22 and HOF Capital, and angels such as Ryan King and Vlad Tenev.
The new funding will help NALA’s consumer business expand beyond Africa, building services for the global migrant diaspora. It was also help build Rafiki, its new B2B payments platform, which is designed to lay the payment rails for the next billion users.
“This US$40 million funding round marks a pivotal moment for NALA. It will enable us to go beyond remittances and extend our reach beyond Africa, building a robust payments ecosystem. We’re reinvesting this money to enhance our infrastructure, ensuring reliable, low-cost payments for all. With the launch of our own payment rails and the expansion of our B2B platform Rafiki, we’re not just talking about change – we’re building it. We’ve got some bold, ambitious plans, give us a couple of years,” said Benjamin Fernandes, founder and CEO of NALA.
This is NALA’s second round of fundraising in 20 months, having raised $10m through Accel, Amplo, and Bessemer Partners in 2022.
