African digital bank startup PalmPay is negotiating a Series B deal to raise $50 million to $100 million.

Although its target worth is unknown, its most recent round in 2021 placed it among the most valuable firms on the continent, coming in just short of unicorn status.

The business is currently profitable after raising close to $140 million in seed and Series A rounds.

The additional funding, which is anticipated to consist of both loan and stock, will support PalmPay's growth by expanding its presence in Nigeria, growing its more recent business-oriented product line, and introducing both goods in new African and Asian countries.

PalmPay reported last month that its 35 million registered users were responsible for 15 million daily transactions. The corporation claims that the value of these transactions now totals "tens of billions of dollars" every year.

Revenue has increased as well. Since then, PalmPay's income has more than doubled, reaching $64 million in 2023, according to reports.

PalmPay was first introduced in Nigeria, the most populous country in Africa and a significant engine for fintech, in 2019. Since traditional banks primarily served salaried or formal-sector clients, frequently with restrictions that barred mass-market users, more than half of the nation's adults were unbanked at the time.

PalmPay saw a chance to reverse that approach by creating a digital bank from the ground up while tailoring it to the needs of the unorganized sector in Africa.

To meet the needs of underbanked people and small companies, the company released an app with rapid onboarding, no transfer fees, and an expanding range of services (such as credit, savings, insurance, and bill payments).

 

Importantly, PalmPay relied on more than just digital acquisition. Through the PalmPay Business app and point-of-sale devices (for cash-in, cash-out services), the fintech established a massive on-the-ground network of over 1 million small businesses and agent merchants that currently serve over 10 million clients each month.

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The hybrid strategy, which combines digital apps with physical touchpoints, has also been adopted by other significant fintech companies in the nation, such as OPay, Moniepoint, and Paga.