Fido, a Ghanaian fintech that empowers millions across Africa to take control of their finances in a snap, has raised $30 million in series-B funding round to drive its expansion across Africa.
The funding round was led by BlueOrchard finance Ltd and FMO Investment Management. Additionally, the company secured $10M in debt funding from Stanbic Bank Ghana and Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP).
Fido plans to use the funds to further its mission of making financial services accessible to the unbanked by expanding its reach into new markets as well as enhancing product offerings.
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With this investment, the company has expressed readiness to roll-out innovative financial solutions, including small business loans, savings, and personalized insurance, to even more individuals and small businesses across Africa. Backed by its advanced AI-driven Fido Score, Fido will continue to deliver secure, reliable financial services to those traditionally underserved by the banking system.
Founded in 2015 by Israeli entrepreneurs Nadav Topolski, Tomer Edry, and Nir Zepkowitz, Fido initially focused on providing mobile-based loans. Over the years, the company has diversified its offerings to include savings, bill payments, and smartphone financing, thereby broadening its revenue streams and deepening its impact on financial inclusion.
The company has served over a million customers, including 40% small businesses, and disbursed over $500 million in loans across Ghana and Uganda. It currently offers loans ranging from $20 to $500 for individual customers, with higher amounts available for businesses based on their needs, the nature of the enterprise, and their credit score. These loans are repayable within six months and carry interest rates between 7% and 12%. Notably, Fido maintains a default rate of less than 4%.
Fido delivers these industry-best rates by deploying mission-critical AI models throughout the loan life cycle. From its acquisition model, which scores new customers based on mobile device data and other alternative data, to its fraud detection and AI-driven collection models.
Future Goals: Fido aims to exceed $1 billion in total disbursements by early next year. The company has been profitable for the past four years and plans to use its new funds to continue expanding its customer base and impact.
Fido’s loan products come with embedded insurance, and the company plans to expand its offerings to include additional insurance covers for its business customers. These new offerings will include climate insurance for borrowers in the agriculture sector, protecting them from extreme weather events such as droughts and floods, as well as tradesman insurance.
Built on advanced technology that enables fast, easy access to financial services, our independent financial platform and unique machine learning risk models make instant credit decisions – even for customers with no financial track record – while reducing operational costs.
The fintech value of credit distributed is at $500 million, with over 1 million customers. Fido is on a mission to empower individuals and entrepreneurs to take charge of their future by providing financial services that are inclusive, instant, and easily accessible through our innovative digital products.