Adlevo Capital is a private equity firm that finances technology-enabled companies across sub-Saharan Africa. It develops market intelligence through a local presence and an understanding of the dynamics of the local market.  Adlevo Capital maintains active local presence via its base in Lagos, Nigeria. It was founded by Yemi Lalude in 2009.

Adlevo Capital

Pierre Omidyar, the founder of eBay, and his wife, Pam, established Omidyar Network based on the belief that every person has the potential to make a difference. Since 2004, they have worked with their partners to create opportunities for people to tap that potential, enabling them to improve their lives and make powerful contributions to their communities.  They support, scale, and champion the work of their partners in order to maximize social impact. As a philanthropic investment firm, they make both investments and grants, identifying like-minded organizations that they support, help scale, and collaborate with to help realize their full potential. Their efforts are organized around two investment initiatives Access to Capital, and Media, Markets and Transparency.

Omidyar Network

Acumen is a nonprofit venture fund that invests in early-stage companies bringing critical services like agriculture, clean energy, education, financial inclusion, healthcare and workforce development to low-income communities in 14 countries across East and West Africa, South Asia, Latin America, and the United States.  Since 2001, Acumen invested $128 million in 128 companies that have transformed the lives of over 308 million low-income people.

Acumen

Capricorn Investment Group was created in 2000 to demonstrate the promise that it is possible to invest profitably while driving sustainable positive change.  Today Capricorn manages the assets for Jeff Skoll, the Skoll Foundation, and others who strive for extraordinary investment results by leveraging market forces to accelerate large-scale impact.  The firm invests in the public equity, fixed income, private equity, and real assets markets across the globe.  Capricorn has offices in Palo Alto, California, and New York, New York.

Capricorn Investment Group

Goodwell Investments provides early-stage growth capital and hands-on support to providers of basic goods and services for the majority world in sub-Saharan Africa and India. The firm invests in enterprises that are financially sustainable, scalable, and that deliver investors significant financial returns accompanies by serious social impact. Founded in 2006, Goodwell Investments is headquartered in Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

Goodwell Investments

The Global Innovation Fund is a non-profit innovation fund headquartered in London with an office in Washington D.C. that invests in the development, rigorous testing, and scaling of innovations targeted at improving the lives of the world’s poorest people. They believe that the best ideas for solving some of the world’s most critical problems can come from anyone, anywhere. Through their grants and risk capital, they help breakthrough solutions to global development challenges from for-profit firms, non-profit organisations, researchers, and government agencies to maximise their impact and affect meaningful change.

Global Innovation Fund

believes that entrepreneurs building rapidly scalable businesses are their best bet for solving significant social and environmental challenges. They partner with world-class entrepreneurs positioned to bend history in the right direction.

Unreasonable Capital

On a mission to reshape how profitable investing is done, Untapped Global offers data-driven investment opportunities for global investors to finance high-growth businesses across emerging markets. Our innovative Smart Asset Financing investment model tracks the usage and revenue streams of productive assets in real-time, giving investors on our online platform access to a transparent, safe and profitable solution to investing in emerging markets. Based in San Francisco, Brussels, and across Africa, the Untapped team aims to create shared prosperity by unlocking economic opportunity where it’s needed most. Find out more at untapped-global.com.

Untapped Global

Paga

Paga is a mobile payment company. We are building an ecosystem to enable people to digitally send and receive money, and creating simple financial access for everyone. Our mission is to make it simple for one billion people to access and use money. Our first market is Nigeria where Paga is the leading mobile payment company.

Paga is a financial technology company that provides a payment and financial services ecosystem for Africa. Established in Nigeria in 2009, the company has built a customer base of over 20 million users in the country as of early 2023. Paga's ecosystem facilitates seamless digital payments and financial services, enabling consumers to conveniently access and use money through neighborhood agents or mobile devices.

Top 10 Countries Leading in Real-Time Payments

Digital trajectory in Nigeria, then the world for Paga

Making Life Possible

Paga group partners with Bank of Abyssinia to launch online payment gateway services in Ethiopia

Digital Wallets

Paga Celebrates 15 Years of Growth, Recognised by the Financial Times, The Economist

Visa

Paga has entered into a partnership with Visa which will enable Paga and Visa to work closely in accelerating secure and convenient mobile payments for merchants and consumers in markets where Paga operates.

These enable users to utilize their wallets for various transactions at virtually any merchant that accepts digital wallet payments without any restrictions on usage.

Paga is a financial technology company that provides a payment and financial services ecosystem for Africa. Established in Nigeria in 2009, the company has built a customer base of over 20 million users in the country as of early 2023. Paga's ecosystem facilitates seamless digital payments and financial services, enabling consumers to conveniently access and use money through neighborhood agents or mobile devices.
The company's platform allows users to withdraw cash, deposit money into bank accounts, pay bills, and open Paga accounts by visiting one of the over 27,000 Paga agents nationwide in Nigeria. Paga's innovative technology and commitment to financial inclusion have been instrumental in driving Nigeria's digital economy and increasing access to financial services.
In February 2022, Paga obtained regulatory approval from the National Bank of Ethiopia to launch its online payment gateway in the country. The company partnered with the Bank of Abyssinia, one of Ethiopia's leading banks and a pioneer in digital finance and payment solutions, to expand its operations into the Ethiopian market.
Key customers and partnerships
In February 2022, Paga formed a strategic partnership with the Bank of Abyssinia, a leading bank in Ethiopia with close to 700 branches and over five million customers. This collaboration aims to empower Paga's delivery of online payment gateway services to Ethiopian consumers and drive the country's digital economy forward.

Dwolla is a leading provider of payment services specializing in account-to-account (A2A) payments. The company offers an innovative API solution called Dwolla Connect, designed for mid to enterprise-sized businesses. Dwolla Connect simplifies the process of replacing legacy, batch-based technology with modern infrastructure, enhancing the management and reconciliation of payments across multiple financial institutions. With Connect's bank-agnostic approach, businesses can leverage their existing commercial accounts at top US banks, including JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Wells Fargo, to effortlessly initiate payments by embedding Dwolla's API into their existing applications and payment flows.
Dwolla Connect serves a wide range of industries, such as financial services, lending, banking-as-a-service, marketplaces, and insurance, among others. Its API-first approach enables businesses to effortlessly integrate A2A payments into their apps or connect with existing ERP/cash management systems, offering a centralized location for payment information. Dwolla Connect provides substantial time and cost savings by allowing businesses to embed a single API, avoiding multiple bank integrations and simplifying their treasury management.
Over the years, Dwolla has expanded its offerings, introducing products like Dwolla Balance, a digital wallet solution, and exploring new payment methods and value-added services. The company has partnered with industry leaders like MX, a leader in open finance APIs, and Mastercard to enhance its payment capabilities and offer consumers more choice in managing their money.

Dwolla

Papaya is a SaaS fintech company that provides global payroll and payments technology through its comprehensive platform called Papaya Payroll OS. The platform automates payroll processes, ensures compliance, offers flexibility, and provides robust security features. Papaya's integrated approach connects data and processes from various HR and enterprise resource planning (ERP) tools, creating a single source of truth. This turns payroll, a company's biggest expense and liability, into a strategic asset that enables growth at scale.
One of Papaya's key offerings is a personal portal that empowers employees with convenient access to their payroll financial information. In March 2023, the company introduced a mobile app as part of this portal, allowing employees to securely view and manage their payslips, work-related documents, and bank account details on the go. This app caters to the growing trend of employees accessing payroll information via mobile devices, with 53% of employees doing so as of March 2023.
Papaya's technology has been recognized by leading global analysts for its disruptive approach in workforce management and payments. The company has received accolades such as being included in the Forbes Cloud 100 and CNBC's Top Startups for the Enterprise.

Papaya

Citcon is a leading global payment gateway and service provider, offering innovative solutions that enable businesses to accept payments from consumers using various mobile wallets, payment apps, and methods. The company's technology empowers merchants to expand their customer base and streamline the payment process, enhancing the overall shopping experience. Citcon's platform allows merchants to securely process millions of payment transactions daily from over 200 payment methods, including popular digital wallets like Alipay, WeChat Pay, PayPal, and Venmo.
Founded in 2015, Citcon pioneered as the first authorized US merchant acquirer for WeChat Pay and Alipay, two of the most widely used mobile wallet providers in China. Over the years, the company has expanded its partnerships to include more than 20 global wallet providers, reaching over 2 billion mobile wallet users worldwide. Citcon's technology integrates seamlessly with various point-of-sale (POS) and ecommerce systems, making it accessible to merchants across diverse industries.
Citcon's solutions cater to the needs of businesses of all sizes, from Fortune 1000 companies like L'Oréal, Hermes, and Nordstrom to major retailers such as Macy's, Caesars Entertainment, MGM Resorts, and Revolve. Its platform is deployed at over 30,000 merchant sites and locations globally.
In October 2021, Citcon closed a USD 30 million Series C funding round, backed by leading global investors such as Norwest Venture Partners, Cota Capital, Sierra Ventures, Sonae, and East-West Bank. The company has expanded its presence with regional offices in the US, Canada, Europe, and Asia to serve its global clientele better.
Citcon has also diversified its offerings to include cryptocurrency payments. In May 2021, the company partnered with Flexa, a leading pure-digital payments network, enabling merchants worldwide to accept cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, and Dogecoin as payment options.

Citcon

PayNearMe is a leading bill payment platform provider that enables unbanked consumers to make cash payments for various services. The company's technology generates a barcode that consumers can take to participating merchant locations within their vicinity. At the store, customers scan the barcode, provide cash to the cashier, and receive a receipt confirming the payment. This innovative solution solves the challenge of accepting cash payments in an increasingly digital world.
PayNearMe's platform supports multiple payment methods, including cash, credit/debit cards, and bank accounts. The company has built an extensive merchant network of over 40,000 retail locations across the US, including partnerships with major chains like Walgreens, CVS Pharmacy, Walmart, and Family Dollar Stores. By March 2022, PayNearMe had expanded its network by nearly 50% over the previous 12 months, with the addition of nearly 9,000 Walgreens and Duane Reade locations.
PayNearMe offers a seamless payment experience for customers while enabling businesses to increase foot traffic and potential incremental sales. The company focuses on partnering with convenience stores, dollar stores, grocers, and pharmacies, as these merchant categories align well with their business model.

PayNearMe

Paydiant was a company that provided a cloud-based white-label mobile wallet platform enabling merchants and banks to deploy their own secure mobile wallet solutions under their brand names. Its patented technology allowed merchants to integrate mobile wallet functionality, including mobile payments, loyalty programs, offers, and e-receipts within their existing mobile apps.
The platform assisted merchants in acquiring new customers and increasing sales by delivering targeted offers and personalized loyalty programs directly to consumer mobile devices. Payment credentials were never stored on users' phones but instead securely held in a PCI-compliant data center, enhancing transaction security.
Paydiant's flexible platform supported various payment instruments like debit, credit, gift, and private-label cards while providing valuable insights into customer spending behavior. It facilitated seamless integration with existing point-of-sale systems across popular smartphone models, eliminating hardware upgrade requirements. The company's technology was compatible with emerging standards like Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE).
In March 2015, Paydiant was acquired by PayPal to bolster the latter's in-store mobile payment capabilities and enable merchant partners to build branded mobile wallets integrated with PayPal's services.

Paydiant

These enable users to carry out transactions at a selected list of merchants and locations. Merchants may need to set up predefined agreements with digital wallet issuers to accept payments from the wallet.

These are typically developed by merchants themselves and allow customers to use their wallets to make payments at the merchants’ own stores. Users are unable to use these wallets for transactions outside the issuing merchant.

Companies that offer white-label solutions for businesses and fintechs to set up their own digital wallet offering.

Leverages AI/ML to conduct various AML/KYC checks on customers and transactions processed through digital wallets

Paga

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