Bitmama Has Raised $350,000 In Pre-seed Funding
Bitmama has raised $350,000 in pre-seed funding
Bitmama, an African blockchain startup led by women, has raised $350,000 in a pre-seed round of funding. This investment will, according to the startup, allow it to expand its operational presence, increase the size of its team, and enter new markets across the African continent.
Flori Ventures, a San Francisco-based venture capital firm, led the round, which included participation from Nigerian investment fund Emergence Capital, Fedha Capital, and a slew of other venture capital firms and angel investors.
Bitmama, which was founded in 2019 by Ruth Iselema, provides a secure blockchain infrastructure that enables users all over Africa to conduct cryptocurrency transactions with confidence. In its current state of operation, the startup is only present in Nigeria and Ghana.
The exchange and sale of cryptocurrencies, as well as cross-border payments transactions, are made possible through the payments platform. Changera, the company's cross-border payment option, enables users to send and receive money internationally, as well as purchase airtime and data, and pay utility bills from anywhere in the world, all through their smartphones.
Cryptocurrency Adoption
Ruth Iselema, the CEO, expressed her delight at the prospect of having reliable financial backers.
"The rate of cryptocurrency adoption in Africa has been surprising fast, but this was expected." More than 3 million users across Africa now conduct cryptographic transactions on a daily basis, according to recent data. We are especially grateful to have strong financial backers with global credibility and track records who are enthusiastic about supporting our mission to ensure that crypto and cross-border transactions across Africa are done efficiently and safely for users and businesses."
In Nigeria, where cryptocurrency has been outlawed by the government, Bitmama, along with its peers, has managed to stay in business by operating on a peer-to-peer model. Bitmama has implemented a rigorous three-tier verification process to ensure a credible process.
She became interested in Blockchain technology after being defrauded of $250,000 while trading Bitcoin. This inspired her to create Bitmama, a cryptocurrency exchange platform. The startup, which is based in Germany, currently has approximately 15-20 remote employees.
It has processed more than $6 million in transaction volume so far this year, according to the founders, and has more than 15,000 active users across its two offerings. The startup hopes to use the funding to expand into Francophone African countries, Kenya, and Europe as a result of the funding it has received.
Instead of introducing new products, the capabilities of existing products will be enhanced through the addition of new features. Recruiting new employees will be done with this in mind.
During a press conference to discuss the investment, Maria Alegre, General Partner and Co-founder of Flori Ventures, stated that the VC's interest in Bitmama's operations led to their decision to invest in the company.
Iselema says the company will be focusing on supporting the Blockchain ecosystem and developers over the next few months, including hosting hackathons and opening up its wallet API to allow developers to build new products on top of the platform.
