Nigeria’s Bitmama Raises $2 Million After Crossing 70K Users in 2022

FlexID, the startup by Zimbabwean entrepreneur, Victor Mapunga, has signed a Simple Agreement for Equity (SAFE) with the Algorand foundation.

The startup wants to develop and scale its Self-Sovereign Identity Platform. This is a digital identity network that FlexID is fronting to address the problem of many poor people lacking identification in some parts of Africa.

It is estimated that about 400 million Africans do not have identity documents. This limits access to services such as healthcare, finance, and education.

Mapunga, who doubles as Managing Director of Zimbabwean fintech, Mutapa, pursued the idea of FlexID when he himself experienced trouble accessing banking services without identification.

“Identity is foundational to modern-day commerce. Without an ID, one cannot participate in the economy even at the most basic levels such as access to basic telco services, mobile money and banking.

‍Without an ID, education and healthcare become extremely difficult to access. On the other hand, the shambolic national records further increase the cost of doing business. With FlexID, even the informal sector can transition from an isolated view to a formalized economy. Farmers can easily access credit and inputs.” – CEO, FlexID

FlexID will be expanding its product on the Algorand blockchain.

The startup has indicated that it is building what is a decentralized marketplace of people. In this marketplace, each person is seen as an API (application programming interface) where they can communicate with different services.

FlexID also intends to integrate its platform with other dApps on the Algorand blockchain.

According to FlexID CTO, Kudzai Zharare:

“The startup will perform credential issuance and verification on-chain, allowing a completely decentralized Layer 2 which puts the user in control.

Algorand blockchain allows FlexID to achieve this feat because the chain is the only one that has truly solved blockchain trilemma challenge and has experienced zero downtime since its mainnet launch in 2019.” – CTO, FlexID

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Nigerian crypto startup, Bitmama, has raised $1.65 million in a pre-seed extension round, to add to the $350K already raised to make a total of $2 million.

The latest investment round was led by:

• Adaverse (Cardano)
• Flori Ventures (CELO)
• Tekedia Capital
• GreenHouse Capital
• Five35 Ventures
• Chrysalis Capital
• Enrich Africa
• Thrive Africa
• Angellist Ventures
• Rene Reinsberg (CEO, CELO)
• Marek Olszewski (Co-Founder, CELO)
• Honey Ogundeyi

Ladies and gentlemen, public service announcement!!

We're delighted to announce Bitmama's has closed a pre-seed of $2 million!!!

This will be used to expand the company's operational presence, strengthen our team across different markets, and many more! pic.twitter.com/rH9UYvAw5i

— ₿itmama.eth (@bitmamaexchange) September 9, 2022

Bitmama started in 2017 as a P2P digital currency exchange and quickly grew into a platform to trade and manage cryptocurrencies and digital assets conveniently.

Currently, the firm has operations in Nigeria, Kenya, and Ghana where customers can use the app (Android and iOS) for these 4 services:

• Trade listed cryptocurrencies
• Use a debit card for regular online payments
• Pay Utilities
• Perform activities such as staking

Prior to creating the exchange, Bitmama began as a Whatsapp group where members could learn about cryptocurrencies, particularly bitcoin, and they could also make transactions.

By building a platform, Bitmama’s WhatsApp users could now buy, sell, and swap cryptocurrencies on a P2P level.

Speaking about this evolution, Ruth Isilema, CEO, Bitmama, said:

“Today, we offer a trusted platform for cryptocurrency transactions. We are building technology that will redefine the way people do financial transactions through blockchain technology.

Many people wanted to make transactions aside from buying and selling of crypto, so we built stuff that could also let them buy local and international airtime and data. Then, due to local bank card limitations of $20 monthly spend, we provided virtual dollar cards for Nigerians to make international purchases.” – CEO, Bitmama

The company, through a new service called Changera, offers virtual cards to facilitate payments for such services as Netflix and Amazon. The VISA-powered cards are funded with stablecoins and users get a limit of up to $10,000 in monthly transaction value.

According to Isilema, Bitmama is usually the first to introduce products to the African market.

“For instance, we were the first to launch QR codes for offline onboarding. Even when we launched the crypto cards, we were the first to do that, and we have a couple of innovative products we’re bringing out that will be the first in the market. We want to keep that momentum.” – CEO, Bitmama

With the investment confirmed, Bitmama highlighted a few objectives for its growth including:

• Expand its operational presence
• Strengthen its team across different markets
• Consolidate its product offerings
• Plot market penetration across Africa, while rapidly scaling new use cases for cryptocurrency within the continent

Bitmama, has already grown from 20,000 to 70,000 users in 2022 so far, is also pursuing B2B customers. It is currently testing out a B2B API product that will let businesses offer crypto products directly to its customers.

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