Affinity Africa declares it has raised US$8 million in an oversubscribed Seed Spherical led by Grazia Fairness and BACKED VC to speed up its mission of delivering reasonably priced and accessible monetary providers to underserved and unbanked communities.
The digital banking platform, which focuses on people and micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs), formally launched in Ghana in October 2024 and has onboarded over 50,000 prospects so far, 65% of whom by no means had entry to formal banking merchandise and over 60% are girls working within the casual sector.
Based by entrepreneur Tarek Mouganie, Affinity leverages a branchless mannequin, powered by a cell and net app in addition to an agent community, and a proprietary know-how platform to supply a full suite of banking providers in a extra environment friendly and accessible approach.
The corporate is extra environment friendly than conventional banks and subsequently capable of supply merchandise with no month-to-month charges or transaction expenses, making Affinity one of the vital reasonably priced gamers within the business.
Its product portfolio contains private and SME accounts, financial savings, funds, transfers to banks and cell cash wallets, investments, and loans.
Since its basis in 2022 and official launch in 2024, Affinity’s development charges have surpassed expectations.
The shopper base grew over 3x year-over-year (YoY) with financial savings rising over 35% month-on-month for the reason that launch of the cell app in 2024.
Utilizing their proprietary scoring engine, Instantaneous Loans have additionally accelerated, rising 30% month-on-month with an NPL of three%.
With this funding, the corporate plans to increase its attain in Ghana forward of its worldwide enlargement to proceed driving monetary inclusion throughout Africa.
“The sturdy, sustained development we’ve seen for the reason that launch of our cell app exhibits how a lot native prospects wanted a greater banking expertise, with out absurd charges and limitless queues.
“As a customer-centric, technology-driven, totally fledged monetary establishment, we provide reasonably priced, easy-to-use merchandise, backed by a novel enterprise mannequin that pulls a rising base of deposits whereas providing the most affordable instantaneous loans within the area,” stated Tarek Mouganie, Founder and Group CEO of Affinity Africa.
“This oversubscribed funding spherical is a testomony to the idea in our imaginative and prescient and the chance to create actual and lasting change, beginning in Ghana.”
The African conventional banking business is without doubt one of the most worthwhile and excessive development on this planet. In Ghana alone, conventional banks have seen a development of 24% YoY for the reason that Covid-19 pandemic, and have a median after-tax RoE of 34%, considerably greater than the worldwide common.
But, conventional banks nonetheless rely closely on charges and are burdened with structural inefficiencies, excessive prices, in depth in-person paperwork necessities, and lengthy onboarding occasions which has left tens of millions outdoors the system.
At the moment, lower than 10% of companies have entry to credit score and over 60% of adults within the continent lack entry to formal monetary providers. With retail banking property at simply 33% of GDP —lower than half of the worldwide common of 70%— and a younger, quickly rising inhabitants, the demand for progressive, cost-effective options like Affinity Africa is extra pressing than ever.
“At BACKED we’re founder first, and we couldn’t consider a greater particular person to construct Africa’s native financial institution than Tarek.
He began his profession investing in banks by way of the 2008 disaster, changing into an professional in regulation and technique, and has constructed a world-class banking software program stack for Affinity from the bottom up.
He has a novel capability to attach with and perceive prospects, which has materialised into extraordinarily spectacular early consumer numbers”, stated Andre de Haes, Founder and Managing Accomplice at Backed.
The $8 million Seed Spherical was led by Grazia Fairness and BACKED VC. Grazia Fairness is one among Europe’s main early-stage enterprise capital companies with seven firms of their portfolio which have exceeded the billion-dollar valuation.
BACKED is a human-centric fund investing in distinctive founders, at Seed, with over 80 investments so far. Affinity is the primary African funding for each.
Different members within the spherical embrace Enza Capital, Launch Africa, Renew Capital, Finca Worldwide, Attijariwafa Ventures, Influence Belongings, and distinguished angels, becoming a member of early backer Eldon Capital.
“We’re thrilled to assist Affinity Africa as they deal with one of many continent’s most urgent challenges—monetary inclusion,” stated Mike Mompi, Managing Accomplice at Enza Capital.
“Reasonably than replicating fintech fashions from the worldwide north, they’ve crafted an progressive strategy tailor-made to native wants and grounded in sturdy fundamentals.
“Their combined mannequin of agent community and cell app, coupled with distinctive execution, is already delivering significant development and measurable influence. We’re assured they may scale efficiently to serve tens of millions throughout Africa”.
“Affinity’s capability to mix speedy development with sturdy governance is really exceptional. In lower than a yr for the reason that official launch, the corporate has achieved vital enlargement in buyer base, deposits, and loans, all whereas sustaining a low-risk profile and a powerful low NPL.
“This degree of sustainable development is uncommon for a digital banking platform and speaks to the power of Affinity’s management, sturdy governance, and dedication to delivering worth to underserved communities.
“Affinity units a mannequin that not solely drives monetary inclusion but in addition units new requirements for accountable banking in Africa”, says Catherine Engmann, Board Member of Affinity Africa.
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