NALA, a Tanzanian cross-border payments firm that recently shifted its focus from local to international money transfers, has secured $10 million in a fresh round of funding.
With received funds, NALA NALA will be able to hire more people and support expansion efforts in the United Kingdom, the United States, and Europe, as well as establish payment rails in Africa and expand into other countries.
The Key investors include Amplo, Accel, and Bessemer Partners, as well as local investors like DFS Lab.
Among the angel investors were Jonas Templestein, co-founder and CTO of Monzo; Vladimir Tenev, co-founder and CEO of Robinhood; Alex Bouaziz, founder of Deel; Laura Spiekerman, co-founder of Alloy; Peeyush Ranjan, head of Google Payments; and early employees of Revolut and TransferWise investors also contributed to NALA.
According to a statement from the company, Sheel Tyle, the founder and general partner of Amplo, will join NALA’s board of directors.
In 2019, three years after the pre-seed round, NALA raised a seven-figure pre-seed round led by Accel.
Around that time, NALA launched a mobile money service in East Africa, which grew to over 250,000 users. NALA began testing international money transfers in 2021 after some customers expressed interest in moving money from the UK. Tanzania’s fintech company has entered the remittance business, sending money to countries in East Africa (Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania).
Despite the fact that digital lenders competes for less than 20% of the foreign money market, which is controlled by traditional offline companies, the opportunities in remittance is enemous.
Africa being the most expensive continent to transfer money to, with average transaction costs of 10.6%, digital senders like NALA position themselves as platforms that offer the best rates and lowest prices.
NALA has experienced substantial growth since its launch last year. The portal allows UK residents to send money to Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, and Ghana. In the previous six months, over 8,000 clients have moved over $8 million in transaction volume to Africa.
NALA is currently available in Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Ghana, and South Africa, with plans to expand to 12 African countries, including Nigeria, by the end of the year.
