Julaya, Ivorian Fintech Startup Raises $5m Extension Round for Expansion

Julaya, an Ivorian fintech firm focused on payments, has added $5 million to its pre-Series A financing.

The business, which primarily uses mobile money channels to allow B2B payments for companies in Francophone West Africa, has raised a total of $7 million in the financing round.

With 56 million active accounts, West Africa has the most active mobile money services in 2019. One of the major mobile money markets in Francophone Africa is Ivory Coast, where 75% of the population has a mobile money account compared to 20% who have bank accounts.

Julaya began offering its services in the west African nation for this reason, and it has since expanded into Senegal, where mobile phone use is widely prevalent (around 80% of the population uses mobile phones), as well as other nations in the UEMOA (West African Economic and Monetary Union) region.

These nations’ small and large firms can utilize the Julaya platform to send payments in bulk via the already-established mobile money channels to other companies and their unbanked personnel. However, they now have access to extra services, such as the startup’s prepaid Mastercard card for managing business expenses. According to CEO Mathias Léopoldie in an interview with TechCrunch, the cards are designed for organizations’ travel requirements, other internet spending, and simple import of transactions into their accounting systems.

“Offering a comprehensive variety of services is our sense or plan with the cards. Because if you only had cards, I don’t think you could establish a wonderful firm with as much traction as you would like, for example, in the United States,” said the company’s chief executive, Charles Talbot, who co-founded the business with him. Except for South Africa, possibly Nigeria, and a small amount of Egypt, the card payment sector is still in development, making it nearly hard to expand a business in our region (Francophone Africa).

According to Léopoldie, offering cards—the majority of which are tangible (upon clients’ requests)—is not Julaya’s primary approach for boosting sales. He claims that it is a switching cost strategy that sets the fintech apart from rivals like YC-backed, who rely heavily on cards.

The corporate cost management component of Julaya is used by more than 40% of its 500 small and medium-sized enterprises (SMBs), startups, large corporations, and government organizations. Léopoldie noted that although medium to big businesses account for the majority of usage, small businesses have surprisingly embraced fintech more than larger clients.

The French-Ivorian startup’s product line has recently been expanded to include a “Cash & Collect” solution that enables “quick and secured” cash collection, particularly in the FMCG industry. Businesses can do this without travelling to a bank by using a mobile money agent branch to deposit money from in-person and field sales into their Julaya accounts.

Léopoldie claimed in July of last year that the fintech was handling more than $1.5 million per month. Those figures have multiplied by five to reach more than $7.5 million, and revenues have grown by over 500% year over year. Some of Julaya’s clientele include companies like Jumia and Sendy.

Speedinvest, a European venture capital firm, led the pre-Series A extension round for Julaya. The round also included investments from EQ2 Ventures, Kibo Ventures, the angel groups Unpopular Ventures and Jedar Capital, as well as previous backers Orange Ventures, Saviu, 50 Partners, Ivorian entrepreneur Mohamed Diabi, and football player Édouard Mendy.

Mendy’s participation, which is his first in Africa and second overall, highlights the significant role that athletes are playing in the African venture capital sector. Byld Ventures, a $15 million fund aimed at African fintechs, was highlighted this week on TechCrunch. The number of athletes serving as the company’s limited partners was a startling finding in the press; according to various accounts, some of them have also made direct investments. In contrast to the others, who are mostly European, Mendy is African.

Léopoldie believes there will be more instances of African athletes supporting startups in the near future, despite the fact that he may be one of the first.

“I believe he is a little ahead of the game. Football players and other wealthy sports figures are beginning to realize their need for venture capital investments for two reasons. The first is that, while being a risky investment, it offers excellent returns. Second, they must use their image to convey that they care about more than just their sporting careers and desire to serve as role models for their homeland. Because he is Senegalese, Édouard Mendy found it to be significant.

Additionally, Julaya received funding from its Senegal country manager and CFO. The fintech’s intentions to expand offices in Benin, Togo, and Burkina Faso, hire staff, and accelerate product development, including the introduction of a lending product that targets 200,000 SMEs in the UEMOA region, would benefit from the proceeds of this financing round.

Principal at the main investor Speedinvest, Enrique Martinez-Hausmann said the organization’s portfolio company is transforming how businesses work in the complex payment ecosystem throughout the Francophone, which also features well-known players like CinetPay and Bizao. The promise of Julaya’s technology, according to Martinez-Hausmann, “as we look ahead, goes much beyond its payment capabilities, having the opportunity to become a close banking partner for enterprises in West Africa.”