Money transfer fintech Nala has successfully secured $40 million in Series A funding to bolster its global expansion and improve the reliability of payments to Africa by establishing its own payment rails.
The funding round was spearheaded by Lauren Kolodny of Acrew Capital, with contributions from DST Global Partners, Amplo, and existing investors. Noteworthy fintech founders, such as Ryan King, co-founder of Chime, Vlad Tenev, co-founder of Robinhood, and the founder of Klarna, also supported this initiative.
This funding comes on the heels of a transformative year for Nala, which achieved profitability, experiencing a tenfold increase in revenue and a thirty-fourfold rise in transaction value. The company has grown its customer base to 500,000 and its team from just seven to over 100 employees.
Nala’s consumer money transfer app allows users to make secure and fast payments from Europe, the UK, and the US to 11 African countries in seconds. The company is also developing a B2B platform aimed at facilitating rapid payments to individuals and businesses across Africa, aspiring to replicate the success of dLocal in Latin America and Airwallex in Asia.
This marks Nala’s second fundraising round in 20 months, following a $10 million raise in 2022 involving Accel, Amplo, and Bessemer Partners.
Benjamin Fernandes, founder and CEO of Nala, remarked: “This $40 million funding round represents a pivotal moment for NALA. It will empower us to move beyond remittances and expand our reach outside Africa, establishing a robust payments ecosystem. We are reinvesting this capital to enhance our infrastructure, ensuring reliable and low-cost payments for everyone. With the launch of our own payment rails and the development of our B2B platform, Rafiki, we are not just discussing change—we are actively building it. We have bold and ambitious plans for the future; just give us a couple of years.”