Shopify is backing Nigeria-based FinTech Nomba in a $30 million round
Nomba offers payment and banking tools for businesses.
Shopify has made an investment in Nomba, a Nigeria-based FinTech firm that raised $30 million in what it classifies as a “pre-Series B” funding round.
The round was led by Base10 Partners, which has also invested in FinTech companies Nubank, Plaid and Brex. In addition to Shopify, it also saw participation from existing investors Partech Partners and Khosla Ventures, as well as new investor Helios.do.
Founded by Yinka Adewale (CEO) and Pelumi Aboluwarin (CTO) in 2016, Nomba provides payment and banking tools for business owners in Nigeria. It initially offered a chatbot that answers financial inquiries on social platforms under the name “Kudi.ai.” Over the years, the company expanded its suite of digital payment solutions, changing the brand name to “Nomba” in 2022.
With this round, Nomba has raised approximately $36.7 million USD in total funding so far. Operating as Kudi in 2019, Nomba raised US$5 million in a Series A round, which received contributions from Partech and Khosla, as well as Michael Seibel, CEO of Y Combinator.
In an interview with TechCrunch, Adewale said the capital raised in this round of investment will allow the company to deliver tailored payment and operations solutions designed for specific businesses, including food companies and restaurants, as well as logistics and transportation companies. In addition, Nomba would also explore a pan-African expansion after seeing initial success in Nigeria.
Nomba is one of the latest additions to Shopify’s investment portfolio, which largely focuses on financing companies that support Shopify’s commerce ecosystem, as well as online stores more generally.
RELATED: Shopify invests in US-based e-commerce analytics aggregator Triple Whale
For example, Triple Whale, which unifies business metrics into a single dashboard for e-commerce businesses, announced the closing of its Series B round in February with participation from Shopify.
In October 2022, Shopify also made an investment in WATI, a Hong Kong startup that offers customer engagement software built on WhatsApp’s Business API.
Other companies Shopify has backed include Toronto digital logistics startup Swyft, and Loop, which provides an exchange-first returns platform for Shopify brands.
Selected image with permission from Nomba.
