Billbox, an integrated billing-to-payment platform aimed at ensuring timely payments for businesses across Africa, has successfully closed a $1.6 million pre-seed funding round.
The investment round saw participation from renowned investors including Norrsken Accelerator, Kaleo Ventures, Founders Factory Africa – FFA (now 54 Collective), P2Vest, and Afrinovation Ventures.
According to a statement from the company, this significant financial backing will enable Billboxx to tackle the critical cash flow challenges faced by SMEs across Africa.
Why they invested
Commenting on the funding, Alex Bakir, General Partner at Norrsken Accelerator, said the company was excited to invest in Billboxx because it is tackling a critical pain point for SME growth in Africa – managing cash flow.
“The team has experienced first-hand the challenges associated with invoices and payments and is committed to building solutions that simply work for small businesses across the continent. “We’re proud to support Justus, AZ, and the team, and see huge potential in financial solutions Billboxx is developing,” Bakir said.
Also commenting, Bongani Sithole, Chief Executive Officer at 54 Collective (formerly Founders Factory Africa), a co-investor in the Pre-seed, said the company is enthusiastic about the innovative work the Billboxx team is building.
“These 3x founders with successful exits under their belts are leveraging their leadership and business experience to tackle a massive pain point for SMEs across Africa.
“We invested in the Company due to the large market size of the opportunity, impressive early traction gained from strong early partnerships with notable large corporates and startups, as well as the solid tech product the team has developed. We’re delighted to back Justus and Abdulazeez as they continue to scale Billboxx,” he said.
The founders
Co-founders Justus Obaoye and Abdulazeez Ogunjobi bring extensive entrepreneurial experience to Billboxx.
- They previously co-founded two startups: Charistouch (Carido), successfully acquired by Cars45, and Fixit45, a spin-off from Cars45.
- Their leadership experience in large corporations and scale-ups such as Schlumberger, Bolt, and OLX add to their strategic insight and entrepreneurial prowess.
- Reiterating their resolve to empower African SMEs, co-founder Obaoye noted that cash flow difficulties are the leading cause of business failures in Africa, with delayed invoice payments being a major contributor.
More Insights
Manual invoicing and deferred payments often result in delayed payments, stifling many SMEs.
- Billboxx’s integrated billing-to-payment platform streamlines billing processes reduces inefficiencies from manual invoicing, and mitigates the impact of deferred payments.
- By providing automated billing and invoicing, secure payment facilitation, and tailored cash flow financing, Billboxx empowers businesses to achieve consistent cash flow and focus on growth.
- Founded in early 2023, Billboxx said it has facilitated over four million dollars in invoice payments through its MVP launched in May 2023.
