The Founder and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Paga, Tayo Oviosu has announced that the Nigerian digital payments platform is gearing up to compete with the likes of PayPal, Alipay, and Safaricom’s M-Pesa at the international level.
Oviosu who took to Twitter to announce the development made the disclosure that the international expansion is valued at $10 million and the funding is led by Global Innovation Fund.
Excited to announce @mypaga $10m Series B2 led by @GlobalInnovFund. Welcome on board & looking forward to partnering on the next phase of Paga's future as we look to scale our impact beyond Nigeria and indeed Africa! #makinglifepossible #JustPagaithttps://t.co/0ceesdQ6Yy
— Tayo Oviosu (@oviosu) September 6, 2018
With the $10 million funding, Oviosu said the company is planning to release its payments product in Ethiopia, Mexico, and the Philippines.
“We are not only in a position to compete with them, we’re going beyond them.
“Our goal is to build a global payment ecosystem across many emerging markets.”
Paga’s Funding
Oviosu bootstrapped the startup for the first six months, relying solely on his savings from his previous job. He also employed the services of friends to work in different areas. Some early investors include his former boss, whom he worked with for about three years, friends and relatives.
He recalled how a friend invested $5,000 in the early days of Paga. He also acknowledged Goodwell Alitheia Capital as Paga’s real angel investor. Currently, the number has grown to over 34 investors.
Paga’s Scorecard
Since its launch, Paga has continued to grow, with 8.2 million users that processed over 2 million transactions worth over $131 million in March 2018. It has also processed over $3 billion worth of transactions from 48 million transactions since inception.
The mobile money platform currently has the largest agent network, with over 15,000 transacting agents serving its dedicated communities in 35 states across the country.
It has also partnered with the apex bank (Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN) on the Shared Agent Network Expansion Facilities initiative (SANEF) to grow the reach of agents providing financial services to 500,000 in order to ramp up inclusion for all Nigerians.
Founded in 2012, Paga has since created a multi-channel network and platform to transfer money, pay bills, and buy things digitally.
Paga products work on iOS, Android, and basic USSD phones using a star, hashtag option. The company has remittance partnerships with Western Union and Moneytrans, a partnership that allows for a third-party integration of Paga’s app.
