Africa Payments Platform BitPesa Gets New Funding
African payments company BitPesa has received new funding to its Series A led by Greycroft Partners, the venture capital firm.
The Luxembourg company obtained new money from investor Plug and Play, while existing investors – including Draper Associates, Blockchain Capital, Pantest Capital and Digital Currency Group – also added funds. BitPesa has raised $10 million to date, the company claims, a significant rise from the $2.5 million Series A round.
BitPesa chief executive officer Elizabeth Rossiello spoke to Forbes about the company’s growth. “A year ago, the company was handling trade volumes of $1 million a month, and it now manages $10 million a month, with 25% month-over-month growth.”
BitPesa is a platform for making payments to and from Africa, as well as within the continent. “Some of the most exciting growth we’ve seen has been pan-African, in between two African currencies where most the other payment providers or banks don’t service,” said Rossiello. “So you would not see an African-African currency pair very often, even if it’s a neighboring country — and that’s something that’s been really exciting to share with most of our customers.”
