Nala, a leading digital payments company, today announced it has raised $40 million in a Series A funding round led by San Francisco-based Acrew Capital. This injection of capital will fuel Nala’s ambitious plans to build new financial infrastructure and scale its innovative payments solutions across Africa and beyond.
Founded in 2017, Nala began by enabling affordable money transfers within Tanzania. Since then, the company has expanded its offerings to provide international remittance services between key regions globally. Through Nala’s consumer app and website, people can easily and securely send funds to family and friends across 11 African markets via over 225 partner banks and mobile money services.
With the new funding, Nala will focus on expanding these valuable remittance corridors while also growing its business-to-business payments platform. Launched earlier this year, the Rafiki platform streamlines cross-border payments for global enterprises operating in and out of Africa. Several prominent fintechs and banks have already signed on as customers.
According to Nala CEO Benjamin Fernandes, “This significant Series A round will allow us to fully deliver on our mission of building a more connected and financially inclusive world. We’ll use these funds to invest in our technology infrastructure as well as scale our remittances and B2B payment solutions across new regions like Asia and Latin America. Our goal is to make digital financial services accessible to all by offering simple, affordable and reliable payment options.”
In addition to powering Nala’s direct offerings, the Rafiki platform plays a key role in ensuring high service uptime and competitive pricing for consumers. By cutting out unnecessary middlemen, Nala can pass ongoing cost savings directly to its growing customer base.
Looking ahead, Nala is poised to become the leading digital gateway for international money movements across the developing world. With continued support from seasoned investors, as well as talented team focused on innovation, Nala’s vision of an open and interoperable global payments ecosystem is coming closer to reality with each new milestone. This latest round of funding will help accelerate that trajectory.
