Umba, an African consumer-focused digital bank, has raised $15m in a Series A funding round led by Costanoa Ventures.
The round was also joined by Lux Capital, Palm Drive Capital, Banana Capital and Streamlined Ventures along with existing investors including Lachy Groom and ACT Ventures.
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Monzo founder Tom Blomfield and executives from NuBank also participated in the round.
The digital bank will use the proceeds to bolster its operations and upgrade its product portfolio in Nigeria.
Umba offers a wide range of financial services via its mobile banking application.
In the next 12 months, Umba aims to launch new offerings such as debit cards, savings accounts, and stock trading.
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By GlobalDataThe funds will also be used to support Umba’s expansion in new African markets and hire new talent across banking and fintech.
Currently, the digital lender offers services such as fee-free bank accounts, interbank transfers, peer-to-peer money transfers, credit products and bill payments.
Umba CEO Tiernan Kennedy commented, “This is a great milestone for Umba, and we are excited to bring in new partners to fuel our growth. Mark Selcow at Costanoa Ventures is a seasoned operator and investor who brings extensive company building experience to our Board.
“There is great potential for Umba to provide useful, accessible products and services that financially empower underserved customers. We see huge growth potential in Nigeria as well as some exciting new markets – we will have more on that later this year”.
