CrowdForce, a Nigerian startup supported by Y Combinator, has secured US$3.6 million in pre-Series A funding. Aruwa Capital Management led the US$3.6 million pre-Series A round, which included both stock and debt. HAVAÍC and AAIC Holdings also participated.
CrowdForce, a Nigerian agency banking startup, has raised US$3.6 million in a pre-Series A round
Damilola Ayorinde and Oluwatomi Ayorinde founded CrowdForce in 2016 as an offline distribution network for market research and financial services.
The company enables businesses to drive mass adoption of digital, crypto, and financial services by leveraging mobile technology to assist businesses, banks, digital wallets, multinational organizations, NGOs, and government agencies in reaching out to the underserved population in their communities. Since 2020, CrowdForce has been cash positive and has served 1.9 million unique consumers across 25 Nigerian states.
The startup plans to utilize the new funds to triple the size of its PayForce agent network this year in order to expand its financial service services to disadvantaged Nigerian areas. Oluwatomi Ayorinde,
CrowdForce’s CEO and co-founder said, “Fintechs and challenger banks are emerging in Africa to deliver better financial services via digital rails. It’s a fantastic development in the market, but cash is clearly still king in Nigeria. Ninety-seven per cent of retail transactions happen offline. There is a clear need to build an offline distribution network to enable fintech and challengers to reach the mass market – this is exactly what we’re doing at CrowdForce, and this round will accelerate our momentum even more”
“We are excited to lead this investment in CrowdForce. We see significant value in the product as it is solving a real problem by providing access to critical financial services in rural areas that have been overlooked by traditional financial institutions. CrowdForce is actively deepening financial inclusion through its products and services, and has unique competitive advantages through its proprietary technology and extensive agent distribution network across the country,” said Adesuwa Okunbo Rhodes, Aruwa Capital founder and managing partner.
