OPay has raised $120 million in a Series B funding round led by Chinese investors. The fund was contributed by some of the investors that participated in the $50 million funding round it raised in July 2019. The investors include Meituan-Dianping, Source Code Capital, IDG Capital, Sequoia China, GSR Ventures, GaoRong, Softbank Asia, BAI, and Redpoint.
OPay is a leading mobile payments company that offers ridesharing, food delivery, advertising, and marketing services to users in Nigeria. The Opera-owned company was launched as a mobile payment service which serves as an infrastructure that integrates its other internet-based business offerings in Nigeria. According to company statistics, OPay now has more than 140,000 active agents that have processed daily transaction volumes over $10 million.
See Also: OPay Withdraws Bus-Hailing Operations to Re-strategize Business Model in Lagos
The company plans to use the acquired funds to scale business verticals across Africa. The $120 million will be distributed to scale its business offerings across Africa, and Opera’s browsing services. It’s business verticals include ORide, OFood, OLeads, OTrike, and OBus.
“Opay will facilitate the people in Nigeria, Ghana, South Africa, Kenya and other African countries with the best fintech ecosystem. We see ourselves as a key contributor to to…helping local businesses…thrive, from…digital business models,” Opera CEO and OPay Chairman Yahui Zhou, said in a statement.
This latest funding round further confirms the Chinese interest in investing in Africa. Chinese companies led recent investments in fintech company -PalmPay, on-demand truck haulage startup – Lori Systems and now Opera-owned mobile payment company – Opay. All three companies have raised a total of $450 million in months. These companies are bringing fierce competition in Africa’s tech ecosystem.
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