OkHi, a smart addressing startup, has received a $1.5 million seed extension, bringing the total amount raised to $3 million.
This round is backed by well-known companies and individuals who, in addition to finance, provide a wealth of experience to OkHi.
Chapel Hill Denham, Flutterwave’s founder, and executives, and EXFI (a group of ex-Googlers) are among the new investors, who join current investors including Founders Factory Africa, Betatron, and Interswitch Group.
“A physical address is a human right,” says OkHi. It allows a person to prove their address in order to open a bank account, has a delivery delivered to their door, and trust an ambulance to find them,” says Timbo Drayson, OkHi’s founder, and CEO. “In Nigeria, OkHi’s mission is to show the world how a smart addressing system should work. We plan to scale to every other emerging market after we’ve accomplished that.”
OkHi has created the world’s first smart address verification service, which uses a smartphone to verify a person’s address, eliminating the need for utility bills and in-person visits.
OkHi’s address verification product is 30% more accurate, 4x faster, and 50% less expensive than the industry standard of sending a physical agent to a customer’s door, according to a pilot with Stanbic IBTC.
OkHi addresses can now be found in 54 countries, demonstrating that their platform is ready to scale.
With the extra funding, OkHi will be able to meet its aim of confirming the addresses of over one million Nigerians by 2022, allowing for easier access to financial services and more efficient delivery services.
To address rising demand from the financial services sector, the company will use the fresh funding to acquire global talent in sales, product, and engineering.
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