Ivory Coast-Based Payments Fintech Secures $5 Million From Its Pre-Series A Funding Round – Fintech Bitcoin News

Julaya is an Ivorian fintech startup that specializes in payments. It recently closed its pre-Series B round, which saw another $5 million raised. This raises the total capital the startup’s fintech company, which specialises in business-tobusiness payments to $7million.

Senegalese Footballer Édouard Mendy Participates in the Series

Julaya, an Ivory Coast-based payment fintech startup, has just closed its preSeries A round of funding. This included $5 million more. Julaya now has a total capital raise of $7million.

Speedinvest led the round of funding and included EQ2 Ventures, Kibo Ventures, as well the participations of Unpopular Ventures (an angel syndicate) and Jedar Capital. Orange Ventures and Saviu were also Julaya’s existing investors. 50 Partners was one of them. Senegal and English football club Chelsea’s goalkeeper, Édouard Mendy also participated in the round.

Services that go beyond regular cards

According to his comments published by Techcrunch, Julaya co-founder and chief executive officer (CEO), said the fintech startup’s availing of standard card services to mobile money users in West Africa has made a difference. Léopoldie, however, shared his thoughts on why it was important for Julaya to offer services beyond regular card services.

“Our sense or strategy with the cards is to provide a full range of service. Because if you have just cards, I don’t think you could build a great startup with a lot [of]For example, you might not see the same level of traction in the U.S. The card payment industry, except for South Africa, maybe Nigeria and a little bit in Egypt, is a developing one and while you might be able to grow a business on that, it’s almost impossible in our region [Francophone Africa],” Léopoldie reportedly said during an interview with Techcrunch.

Concerning Mendy’s participation in Julaya’s pre-Series A round, Léopoldie said he thought this showed how just far “ahead of the curve” this goalkeeper is. According to the CEO, Mendy’s being a Senegalese also helps because it inspires other Africans to follow in his footsteps and become investors.

Register here for a weekly email update with African news.

Your thoughts? Please comment below to let us know your thoughts.

Terence Zimwara

Terence Zimwara was a Zimbabwe award-winning journalist and author. He is a prolific writer on the economic woes of African countries, as well as digital currencies that can be used to provide an escape path for Africans.