FUNDING | Nigerian Unicorn, MoniePoint, Secures Investment from VISA

2025-12-26 23:55:32

MoniePoint, one of Nigeria’s leading business payments and banking services platform, has secured an investment from VISA, the digital payments company said in a press release.

MoniePoint, which raised $110 million in October 2024 to become one of few African unicorns, has emerged as one of the more successful companies on the continent, building a strong financial services business targeting small businesses.

“VISA’s investment in Moniepoint is the latest example of our long-standing commitment to advancing digital economies in Africa,” Andrew Torre, VISA’s regional president for central and eastern Europe, the Middle East and Africa, said in the release.

“We will enable even the smallest businesses to thrive through innovative payment and software solutions that allow [SMBs] to scale and open new revenue opportunities, while streamlining their operations.”

MoniePoint, formerly known as TeamApt, was established in 2015 by Tosin Eniolorunda and Felix Ike to enhance access to financial services for small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) in Nigeria.

“Visa’s backing is a strong endorsement of our vision to digitize and support African businesses at scale. Together, we aim to deepen financial inclusion, enabling SMEs to access the tools and resources they need to thrive in an increasingly digital economy.

Given that about 83% of employment across Africa is in the informal economy, we are very keen to widen access and participation in the formal financial system and drive economic growth across Africa.”

– Tosin Eniolorunda, Founder and Group CEO of MoniePoint Inc.

Its platform provides an integrated suite of services, including digital payments, bank accounts, credit, and management tools. Through this partnership with VISA, the company aims to extend its reach beyond Nigeria’s borders, further solidifying its role in driving financial inclusion.

The startup processes over 1 billion transactions monthly, with a total payments volume exceeding $22 billion. The company has achieved revenue growth of more than 150% ‘in recent years,’ according to the release.

MoniePoint has no shortage of investors, who notably include:

Development Partners International
Google’s Africa Investment Fund
Verod Capital, Lightrock
QED Investors
NovaStar Ventures
British International Investment
FMO (the Dutch entrepreneurial development bank)
Global Ventures
Endeavor Catalyst

As part of its rebranding in January 2023, MoniePoint announced the relocation of its headquarters from Lagos to London, signaling its ambition to expand its footprint and enter the next phase of growth.

As for VISA, this is the latest investment in African financial services, having already invested in:

InterSwitch
Flutterwave

which are also unicorns.

VISA also invested in:

Oze
WorkPay
Okhi, and
Orda

in 2024, four startups that graduated from the first batch of its VISA Africa Fintech Accelerator program.

Applications for the latest edition of the VISA Africa Fintech Accelerator program are currently underway and must be submitted by March 15 2025.

Interested parties can learn more about this program and cohort apply on the VISA Accelerator Program website via this link.

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