According to MasterCard and The Fletcher School, “of the $301 billion of funds flows from consumers to businesses in Nigeria, 98 percent is still based on cash.” Fintech will not merely have to move those $295 billion-worth cash transactions online/digital; it must create new value in the process. GONA, a payment startup in Lagos, is tapping into that; it just raised millions of dollars from some Chinese investors.
GONA is a mobile payments platform with primary operations in Lagos. The startup recently announced the completion of a multi-million dollar Pre-A round of financing.
According to news website, c.m.163.com the Chinese-led investment came from Crystal Stream Capital, UnityVC and Shaka VC.
Liu Xiaojun, founder and CEO of GONA says the round of financing will be used for team building and product technology upgrades.
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GONA, which among other things, is enabling cashless payments on ‘informal transit’ public buses in Lagos, is working to solve the pains of inconvenience in the local travel market. This it is doing by using technical means to improve operational efficiency.
Fintech startups and specifically payment ones have huge market opportunities ahead as most of the consumer transactions remain cash-based. Moving them into the digital space will need more investment capital. That is why fintech is hot – the frictions are largely unmoved and waiting to be fixed.
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