First, they refused to raise money. I met them when they were processing about $10,000 per month. Today, the number runs into millions of dollars, servicing 2.3 million customers.
Touch and Pay (TAP), a Tekedia Capital portfolio startup, just raised $3 million. This fund will help expansion in other African countries; Senegal and Ghana will kickstart that big dance.
TAP, a YC startup, is the leader on microtransactions payment in Africa, making it possible to achieve revenue assurance even on transactions as low as 50 cents: “Today there are two types of transactions in Africa, firstly macro ones like buying a car or house, or payment of tuition, These transactions have been digitised and are processed electronically,” he said.
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“But the other type of transactions are micro-transactions, like payment of transportation fares, getting snacks or a cup of coffee, or buying groceries. These are all cash-based and they account for 70 percent of all daily transactions in Nigeria today.”
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Nigerian fintech startup Touch and Pay is planning expansion into a number of other African markets after securing a seed funding round worth US$3 million.
Founded in 2019, Touch and Pay has developed a suite of near field communication (NFC) based payment solutions for all sorts of situations. Co-founder Michael Oluwole said the startup was trying to move towards a truly cashless society.
“Today there are two types of transactions in Africa, firstly macro ones like buying a car or house, or payment of tuition, These transactions have been digitised and are processed electronically,” he said.
“But the other type of transactions are micro-transactions, like payment of transportation fares, getting snacks or a cup of coffee, or buying groceries. These are all cash-based and they account for 70 per cent of all daily transactions in Nigeria today.”
Even those that have bank accounts, therefore, still have to withdraw cash to perform these microtransactions.
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Comment: Good ?. Am wondering though….just raised $3m to expand into two countries in Africa. And they are already the leader in microtransactions in Africa?
My Response: We have looked at all the companies in Africa and none processes more microtransactions (note microtransactions) than TAP. Even though it is Nigeria, since no one is processing more than it, it is the leader in Africa. Also, raising $3m is by choice.
They would have raised $30m but as I noted, these guys NEVER want to raise money. It took a lot to get them to raise. Why? They generate really great free cashflow. I do not use money raised as a metric for success. We use real data and one is 2.3 million customers within 3 years!
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