Nigerian lending app Sycamore secures seed round to bolster operations

Sycamore, a Nigerian peer-to-peer (P2P) lending firm, has raised an undisclosed seed round to extend its operations.

Sycamore, which was founded in 2019 by Babatunde Akin-Moses, Onyinye Okonji, and Mayowa Adeosun, employs unique risk assessment tools to award business loans the same day via its website and freshly announced mobile app.

The company has already distributed millions of dollars to thousands of small businesses in Nigeria, and it has also added a function that allows users to control loans issued to family members. The “Loan Friends” function of the Sycamore app allows users to seek a loan from a friend or family member, which then sends scheduled reminders and automatically collects the loan on the due date.

“We’ve always been wary of providing our customers with one-of-a-kind experiences. “We didn’t want to just release another “loan app” into the market without providing customers with any additional value,” Adeosun, Sycamore’s COO, explained. “As a customer-centric company, we engaged our customers in discussions about their needs.” We are delighted that our app is used on a daily basis to manage loans given to – or received from – friends and relatives.”

White Hibiscus Capital (WHC), a US-based venture capital firm, led the unannounced seed investment round, which also included a number of additional private investors.

Sycamore will use the funds to raise market awareness, double down on its financial education efforts, and acquire enough engineering talent to expand its capacity as it embarks on a strategy to expand to other African countries.

Bade Aluko, managing partner of WHC, said, “Sycamore is doing an incredible job of getting loans to small businesses in record speed.” “I admire the team’s technologically-driven approach to ensuring that things run smoothly for consumers, and WHC looks forward to having Sycamore functioning in other African countries.”