Focused on improving financial inclusion for West Africa’s low-income segment, a Nigerian fintech start-up, Aella has raised a $10m debt financing round, from HQ Financial Group (HQF), Singapore-based private company specializing in new material science, semiconductor and blockchain financial investments. This debt financing round is Aella’s second raise and will bolster the company’s commitment to serve the underbanked population in West Africa and other emerging markets.
Aella was founded in late 2015 by Akin Jones, CEO (right) and Akanbi Wale, CTO (left) in Lagos, Nigeria and has remained committed to building trustworthy credit for emerging markets with an initial focus on Nigeria and the Philippines, where the company is licensed to operate.
Aella has made a visible impact on the lives of
more than 300k borrowers across its Employer Backed and Direct to Consumer
Verticals, who now have access to simple financial products.
For millions of poor and low-income households,
entrepreneurs, and nascent businesses in West Africa without access to
financial institutions, micro-lending fintechs like Aella provide a broader
array of financial products — savings, insurance, payments and specialized
loans, focused on lifting many out of poverty. Aella plans to use this funding
to scale its lending operations and expand its product base into payments.
“Lack of access to credit and financial services has been the
main impediment to MSME growth and poverty reduction in several emerging
economies. Aella’s commitment to providing trustworthy credit to millions of
people in the world’s emerging markets is improving financial inclusion,
enabling MSME expansion and accelerating economic growth and this raise will
allow us scale our expansion across Africa quickly”, said Aella CEO, Akin Jones.
Aella will also invest in new products including a
blockchain-based lending market called Creditcoin, to build borrower
creditworthiness and aid in the acquisition of one million additional users by
the end of 2020, making it the largest blockchain backed financial services
project that is currently operational.
“We are building a one-stop app for all transactions
partnered with regulated industry leaders to help distribute products faster,
better and cheaper to end-users in Nigeria and across the markets we plan to
launch. This app will allow users access multiple financial services at low
costs compared to what is currently available in market”, Jones added.
Sun Han Gyu, Chief Executive Officer of HQ Financial Group
said “We are excited to announce our partnership with Aella Credit which will
significantly aid in the proliferation of micro-loan services to the
underserved African populations who are unable to access banking services. HQF
is impressed with their outstanding growth with very low default rate in the
micro-loan business in Nigeria and look forward, through this initial
investment of $10m to new growth opportunities in Africa and South Asia”. HQF
has deployed over $70m in investments since 2015.
Aella previously raised $2m seed funding at the US startup
program, Y Combinator from seed investors including Micheal Seibel of Y
Combinator, Brian Armstrong of Coinbase, Bill Paladino (former head of Naspers
eCommerce), Tae Oh, Shawntae Spencer (former San Francisco 49ers Cornerback),
VY Capital, 500 Startups, Gluwa and others, which enabled it invest in
digitalization and technology.
Over the last two years, the company has achieved significant
growth with a 2-year compound annual user growth rate of 674%, over 193% increase
in revenue and maintained a single-digit default rate. Aella was also
recognized by Amazon as one of the world’s leading financial organizations
pioneering the use of facial recognition technology for customer authentication
and credit scoring.
This raise marks the conclusion of the
start-up’s evolution to a full-service lending and payments platform, poised to
play a greater role in providing a wide bouquet of financial services across
Africa. Aella is focused on expanding across Africa and South East Asia
enabling users to access a wide range of fast, convenient, and secure financial
services. The company’s application will allow users to have access to loans,
invest safely and securely, affordable insurance plans, bill payments and
peer-to-peer money transfers.