Nigerian fintech start-up company, Aella Credit, announced recently that it raised a new round of funding of $10 million from HQ Financial Group, a Singaporean private company specializing in blockchain financial investments, as part of its tactics to improve financial inclusion drive and expansion across West Africa.
According to the statement by the Fintech start-up, it states that, this debt financing round is Aella’s second raise and will bolster the company’s commitment to serve the underbanked population in West Africa and other emerging markets.
Speaking on the financing, Aella CEO, Akin Jones, said that, Aella wants to develop new financial solutions and create a credit platform that will work with blockchain. “We are building a one-stop app for all transactions partnered with regulated industry leaders to help distribute products faster, better and cheaper to end-users in Nigeria and across the markets we plan to launch. This app will allow users to access multiple financial services at low costs compared to what is currently available in the market”.
Aella will also invest in new products including a blockchain-based lending market called Creditcoin, to build borrower creditworthiness and aid in the acquisition of one million additional users by the end of 2020, making it the largest blockchain backed financial services project that is currently operational.
Jones stated further that, “We are building a one-stop app for all transactions partnered with regulated industry leaders to help distribute products faster, better and cheaper to end-users in Nigeria and across the markets we plan to launch. This app will allow users access multiple financial services at low costs compared to what is currently available in market”.
Also commenting, Sun Han Gyu, Chief Executive Officer of HQ Financial Group said “We are excited to announce our partnership with Aella Credit which will significantly aid in the proliferation of micro-loan services to the underserved African populations who are unable to access banking services. HQF is impressed with their outstanding growth with very low default rate in the micro-loan business in Nigeria and look forward, through this initial investment of $10m to new growth opportunities in Africa and South Asia”. HQF has deployed over $70m in investments since 2015.
The digital lending platform said it has increased customer base by 674% and turnover by 193% over the past two years. Also, it has granted more than 300,000 loans since its inception in 2015. The second co-founder of the group is Akanbi Wale (pictured, left).
ABOUT AELLA
Aella is a leading African fintech start-up based in Lagos Nigeria with offices in San Francisco and Manila. The company focuses on simplifying finance in emerging markets by offering access to loans, bill payments and, in the immediate future, affordable insurance plans and other similar services that are simple and safe. Aella aims to make a significant contribution to Africa’s fintech ecosystem by helping to build a sustainable digital economy.
