Potential major player in the African mobile money market has received serious financial backing. African fintech pawaPay has announced that it has secured $9 million in a seed funding round. The round was co-led by independent and interdisciplinary investment firm MSA and UK-based investment fund 88mph. Several other financial services companies and investment groups are also participating. the funding will be used to help scale the fintech’s operational presence, grow the existing team and expand in new markets across Africa. It is not, however, a complete newcomer. pawaPay originated as the payments part of pawaTech, a UK software company with experience building mobile money solutions for African markets. It was spun out as a standalone business in early 2020 and now claims to be a mobile money payments leader on the continent, processing more than 100 million mobile money transactions per year across ten or more countries.
pawaPay assists global companies in accepting payments from African consumers. This is done through what the company describes as its simple API which enables merchants to access over 300 million customers in over 10 markets through mobile money. The platform also offers transparent and reliable payments, with the aim of ensuring security and safety for merchants and consumers. Its single API allows customers to access all telco mobile money systems and send and receive payments to hundreds of people. The company handles local operations, compliance and regulatory cover and bank accounts, targeting Africa’s underbanked population.