An Insurer Backs A Startup; Nigeria’s CredPal Raises $1.5 Million from Tangerine Life, Others

CredPal is a credit card solution geared towards providing credit access for businesses and individuals in Nigeria. With their solution, you can buy things on credit and pay later. It is not a loan which means you do not have to pay interest when the card is not in use. A Y Combinator alum, the company just raised $1.5 million.

“We’re building the American Express of Africa, and our goal is to make credit cards mainstream across Africa as is obtainable in the United States and other advanced economies. With this funding, the growing market demand for consumer credit, and our recent product launch to solve these needs, we know that we’re on the right track,”

“With this funding, we’re working on ways to provide more information and education about credit cards, the value of owning one and the benefits that come with it. We are obsessed with the desire to see that working professionals no longer have a thing to worry about as it concerns dealing with their financial needs, a world in which every working person is rewarded with a CredPal card that has their back. A world in which they can embrace life today and live more,” Olaogun said.

It is that raise that caught my interest: it raised part of the money from a digital insurance company called Tangerine Life. Yes, is that not awesome that insurance companies in Nigeria now back startups instead of the typical warehousing of premiums in real estate investments? Of course, treasury bills are no more options with the near zero-rate returns!

We will be waiting for the pension funds to join the party. If that happens, a new generation of well-backed startups in Nigeria will emerge.

CredPal was started by Fehintolu Olaogun and Olorunfemi Jegede.

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