Wave, a Senegal-based mobile money provider have raised $200-million in a Series A round of funding, reports Tech Crunch.
The investment marks the largest-ever Series A funding round for a fintech startup in Africa, and it values Wave at around $1.7-billion.
No other startup company in Africa has managed to raise such an amount in a Series A round. OPay, likewise a fintech solution provider, managed to raise $400-million in the continent’s largest-ever venture capital investment during a Series C round. Interswitch follow OPay with its $200-million investment from Visa also during Series C funding.
The latest round by Wave was jointly led by four big-name backers, starting with Sequoia Heritage – an endowment-style fund and a separate entity that operates independently under the Sequoia brand – which was joined by Founders Fund, payment giant Stripe, and closed out by Ribbit Capital. Continue reading