Emma Okonji
Nigeria’s Piggybank.ng, an online and
mobile app savings platform targeted at African millennials, has
announced that it recently closed a deal on seed funding to the tune of
$1.1 million from High Net Worth Individuals, led by the Founder of
LeadPath Nigeria, Olumide Soyombo, and with participation from
International and Pan-African investors Village Capital and Ventures
Platform.
The company said that it will deploy the
investment for license acquisition and product development.
Piggybank.ng has recorded 20 – 35 per cent month-on-month growth in user
traction over the past 12 months; primarily from peer-to-peer
recommendations, its referral program – Piggybank Stories, and
grass-roots social media campaigns.
The startup will also invest in
additional marketing spend, to accelerate its growth trajectory. Having
completed accelerator programmes with Blackbox, the CcHub’s Pitch Drive,
powered by Google for Entrepreneurs, and Google Launchpad Africa,
Piggybank.ng has built a savings community of over 53,000 registered
users of which approximately 60 per cent are Nigerian millennials, who
have saved in excess of $5 million, with a savings growth of 3000 per
cent between 2016 and 2017.
Founded in 2016 by Somto Ifezue, Odunayo
Eweniyi and Joshua Chibueze, graduates of Covenant University, Nigeria,
Piggybank.ng is positioned to fill a void for tens of millions of
Nigerians, who have no access to credit, in a country where up to two
years’ rent is often required upfront to secure a home. Targeting
low-middle income savers in Nigeria, which has a population of 26.5
million, with a market size of $2.2 billion, the FinTech start-up is an
automated savings platform where savers manage their finances by
depositing small amounts of money, beginning from $1/day on a daily,
weekly or monthly basis, depending on their saving target, free of
charge. Savers can expect to earn on average 6 per cent per annum on
automated savings or 10.95 per cent per annum on the fixed deposit
product, Safelock and can withdraw funds once per quarter. Piggybank.ng
generates its revenues through asset management, which currently stands
at between 5 – 7 per cent.
Co-founder and COO of Piggybank.ng,
Odunayo Eweniyi, said: “In a country such as Nigeria, almost everything
has to be paid in advance. The majority of Nigerians struggle to save
their income, manage cash flow and build credit, which is a huge problem
as around 80 per cent of Nigerians need to save a minimum of 40% of
their monthly income, in order to survive. This is the sheer scale of
the challenge we are embracing; to actively promote a savings culture in
Nigeria and act as the savings infrastructure to millions of people who
want a safe, transparent and innovative platform to assist them in
managing their finances, on their journeys to financial freedom.”
Co-founder and Chief Marketing Officer
of Piggybank, Joshua Chibueze, said: “Today’s announcement allows us to
expand and capitalise on the many opportunities that the market presents
us with. Our growth so far has been stimulated almost entirely by
peer-to-peer advocacy and our investment in the highest quality customer
service, so we know the market is there, and the product has been
built, modified, tested and ratified by users. With this fundraise, we
can invest significantly in our people and products, as we build a
digital financial warehouse accessible to millions of Africans whose
savings woes we want to put firmly behind them.”
According to Soyombo, “Piggybank.ng is a
leading example of how Africans are innovating to solve African
problems. The team is applying technology and innovation to solve a
problem facing millions of Nigerians; how can they accrue enough money
to make down-payments on so many ‘life events’, in a market where
there’s little to no access to credit.
