Frontier Cars Group, OPay: Here are the Top 5 Tech Fund Raisers of 2019

The Nigerian tech space has become one of the most preferred investment destinations for Venture Capitalist in Africa. And it shows in the total amount of funds raised by startups in the country this year.

The stats show a significant increase from the $178m raised from funding rounds in 2018, according to Techpoint.

Funding is essential to the growth of startups. In the first half of the year, tech startups raised about $110.9m in investments from local investors like Microtraction and foreign investors alike as interest in the Nigerian tech ecosystem continues to grow.

The Nigerian Fintech space took the largest chunk of funds raised in 2019, with about $360 million raised by Nigerian-focused payment startups in November alone. Other sectors with a high influx of funds include logistics and transport, energy, healthtech and agritech.

The top 5 winners of 2019 in fundraising collectively raised $896 million in funding rounds which ranged from pre-seed, seed stage, Series A to D funding, cooperate funding, grants to angel investment and debt financing.

Here are the Top 5 startups who raised the stakes in funding in 2019.

Frontier Cars Group (Cars45), $400 million

Frontiers Cars Group, the parent company of Cars45, an online marketplace for people to buy, sell or swap used cars, is the biggest winner in fund-raising in 2019.

In Nigeria, Cars45 uses its car inspection service and grading systems to help sellers match their cars more effectively to prospective buyers and also reduce trade scams.

The company raised a whopping $400 million from OLX Group in November to help strengthen and expand operations.

OPay, $170 million

OPay, an Opera-backed, Nigerian-focused Fintech startup and super app which aims to become the top mobile payment service in the country raised $170 million in funds this year.

Earlier in July, Opera has raised $50 million in a Series A round of funding led by Chinese VC investors Sequoia China, IDG Capital, and Source Code Capital. Followed by another $120 million in a Series B funding round also led by Chinese investors in November.

The startup invested the funds raised into scaling its services in Nigeria which include ORide, Olist, OTrike and OFoods and also expand into Kenya, Ghana and South Africa.

Branch International, $170 million

Branch, a leading instant loan app that uses data science to provide quick loans for business and personal needs raised a $170 million in a Series C funding round led by Foundation Capital and Visa in April.

Branch helps entrepreneurs achieve their business goals by providing loans essential for the growth of the businesses without stress. In Nigeria, Branch crossed its 1 millionth loan milestone and is poised for more expansion with the funds raised.

Andela, $100 million

Andela, an African tech company that searches for tech talent, identifies and trains them to become full-stack software engineers raised $100 million in a = Series D fund round led by an investment firm, Generation Investment Management in January.

The company initially planned to add 1000 developers with the fund influx, but later relived about 250 developers in Nigeria owing to market constraints. Andela operates in Nigeria, Kenya, Uganda, and Rwanda.

Jumia Group, $56 million

Jumia, Africa’s e-commerce giant raised $56 million in a corporate round investment from global financial giants, MasterCard in April.

The investment came just before Jumia listed on the New York Stock Exchange, where it raised an impressive $195.8 million. However, in recent months Jumia has been shutting down some branches of its operation in Africa, a decision which is said to be an ongoing restructuring phase.

Kudos to the startups that raised the stakes in 2019!