Ivory Coast-Based Payments Fintech Secures $5 Million From Its Pre-Series A Funding Round – According to a report, Julaya, an Ivory Coast-based payments fintech business, just completed its pre-Series A funding round with an additional $5 million. Julaya has now raised a total of $7 million in its funding round with this latest capital raise.
Speedinvest, a European venture capital fund, led the funding round, which also included EQ2 Ventures, Kibo Ventures, and the angel syndicates Unpopular Ventures and Jedar Capital. Orange Ventures, Saviu, and 50 Partners are among the existing Julaya investors who participated in this round. Édouard Mendy, goalkeeper for Senegal and English football club Chelsea, also participated in the round.
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According to comments published by Techcrunch, Julaya co-founder and CEO, stated the fintech startup’s provision of standard card services to West African mobile money consumers had made a difference. Léopoldie, on the other hand, explained why it was essential for Julaya to provide services other than regular card services.
“Our sense or strategy with the cards is to provide a full range of service. Because if you have just cards, I don’t think you could build a great startup with a lot of traction as you would like, for example, in the U.S. The card payment industry, except for South Africa, maybe Nigeria and a little bit in Egypt, is a developing one and while you might be able to grow a business on that, it’s almost impossible in our region (Francophone Africa),” Léopoldie reportedly said during an interview with Techcrunch.
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Ivory Coast-Based Payments Fintech Secures $5 Million From Its Pre-Series A Funding Round – Léopoldie said Mendy’s participation in Julaya’s pre-Series A round demonstrated how “ahead of the curve” this goalkeeper is. Mendy’s Senegalese background, according to the CEO, also helps because it inspires other Africans to follow in his footsteps and become investors.
