African fintech startup Opay is located in Lagos. Opay will use the proceeds from the funding to scale its operations in Nigeria and expand into Kenya, Ghana and South Africa. Opay was founded by consumer internet company Opera.
Venture capitalists including Meituan-Dianping, GaoRong, Source Code Capital, Softbank Asia, BAI, Redpoint, IDG Capital, Sequoia China and GSR Ventures participated in the funding.
Opera CEO and OPay Chairman Yahui Zhou, said in a statement, “OPay will facilitate the people in Nigeria, Ghana, South Africa, Kenya and other African countries with the best fintech ecosystem. We see ourselves as a key contributor to…helping local businesses…thrive from…digital business models.”
It appears that the Opay’s funding will transform Opera into a multi-service commercial internet platform in Africa. Opay seeks to create a strong presence in Africa’s fintech startup ecosystem.
After its Series A funding, Opay scaled to 140,000 active agents and $10 million in daily transaction volume, according to the company data.
Previously, Chinese investors interaction with African startups were relatively low. This year, they have pursued a number of African fintech startups such as Opay, PalmPay and Lori Systems to expand their presence. These startups have raised a combined $240 million from 15 different Chinese investors.
In Africa, Nigeria has become the centre for fintech venture capital firms, especially with Chinese investors seeking startup presence on the continent.