African fintech companies have had a year like no other when it comes to funding.

Between Q1 and Q3 this year, African fintech companies raised US$1.44 billion in funding dollars. The funding total surpassed the entire amount raised by these companies across the past decade, where they raised a total of US$1.06 billion.

Now, African fintech companies are now expected to raise close to US$3 billion by the end of the year.

In fact, the funding total year to date November 2021 nearly reached US$2 billion. Of this, US$1.3 billion was raised by eight companies alone. Aside from local investors, these companies have also caught the attention of global investors such as SoftBank, Sequoia, Founders Fund, Ribbit Capital and Tiger Global.

These are the eight African fintech companies that raised mega-rounds this year, clocking in individual funding rounds of US$100 million or more.

1. OPay

Headquarters: Nigeria, Africa
Founding year: 2018
Total funding (Crunchbase): US$570 million
Founders: Zhou Yahui

OPay is a Nigeria-based mobile money solution that enables utility payments, P2P transfers, and savings, as well as an offline banking service. The company also provides a POS solution along with a terminal for merchant accounts.

In the biggest round to take place this year so far, OPay raised US$400 million from SoftBank’s Vision Fund 2 with a valuation of US$2 billion. The round saw other Chinese investors participate as well, including Sequoia Capital China, Meituan’s VC wing DragonBall Capital, Source Code Capital, Redpoint China, SoftBank Ventures Asia and 3W Capital.

2. Wave

Headquarters: Senegal, Africa
Founding year: 2017
Total funding (Crunchbase): US$200 million
Founders: Drew Durbin

Wave is a mobile money solution operating in Senegal and the Ivory Coast. Apart from bill payments and money transfers, Wave also allows users to deposit and withdraw money for free.

At a valuation of US$1.7 billion, Wave raised US$200 million in a Series A round in September this year. Sequoia Heritage, Founders Fund, Stripe and Ribbit Capital led the round, with participation from Partech Africa, and former Y Combinator CEO Sam Altman.

3. Flutterwave

Headquarters: California, US
Founding year: 2016
Total funding: US$225 million
Founders: Olugbenga Agboola, lyinoluwa Aboyeji

Flutterwave is a pan-African payments infrastructure company. It provides payments, invoicing, card, ecommerce and lending solutions, and also offers APIs across these segments. Apart from a presence in 12 African countries, Flutterwave is also available in Europe and US markets.

The company raised a US$170 million Series C in March this year, at a valuation of US$1+ billion. Avenir Growth Capital and Tiger Global led the round. Participating investors included DST Global, Early Capital Berrywood, Green Visor Capital, Greycroft, Insight Ventures, Salesforce Ventures, Tiger Management, WorldpayFIS, and 9yards Capital.

4. Chipper Cash

Headquarters: California, US
Founding year: 2018
Total funding (Crunchbase): US$305.2 million
Founders: Ham Serunjogi, Maijid Moujaled

Chipper Cash is a cross-border money transfer company, currently available across six countries in Africa, as well as the US and the UK. The company also provides a digital card offering, crypto and stock investing, and an API solution as well.

The company raised US$150 million in a Series C extension round earlier this year, led by Bahamas-based crypto exchange FTX. Other investors in the round included SVB Capital, Deciens Capital, Ribbit Capital, Bezos Expeditions, One Way Ventures and Tribe Capital.

5. Tala

Headquarters: California, US
Founding year: 2011
Total funding: US$350 million
Founders: Shivani Siroya

Tala is a global digital consumer credit company providing micro loans of US$10 to US$500. The company uses advanced data science and machine learning to power instant loan underwriting and disbursal. The company has a presence in Africa, amongst other emerging markets.

Tala raised US$145 million in a Series E round led by US-based AI lending platform Upstart. Stellar Development Foundation, Kindred Ventures, the J. Safra Group, IVP, Revolution Growth, PayPal Ventures, and Lowercase Capital also participated.

6. MNT-Halan

Headquarters: Egypt, Africa
Founding year: 2018
Total funding: US$120 million
Founders: Mounir Nakhla, Ahmed Mohsen

Halan was started as a ride-hailing and delivery service, before it merged with Dutch payments company MNT in a stock-for-stock merger. With the merger, the newly formed MNT-Halan also started offering fintech solutions including business and consumer lending (including nano loans, BNPL, and payroll lending), and digital payments.

Prior to the merger, Halan had previously raised about US$26.5 million (Crunchbase) across seed to Series B rounds. In September, the merged company raised US$120 million from Apis Partners, Development Partners International, and Lorax Capital Partners, along with Middle East Venture Partners, Endeavor Catalyst, and DisruptTech.

7. Jumo

Headquarters: South Africa, Africa
Founding year: 2015
Total funding: US$200 million
Founders: Andrew Watkins-Ball

Jumo is a banking-as-a-service platform that provides end-to-end banking infrastructure. This includes core banking, underwriting, KYC, and fraud detection solutions, aside from AI-powered data-based lending cost and risk management.

Jumo raised US$120 million this month, in a round led by the Fidelity Management and Research Company. The round also saw participation from Visa and Kingsway.

8. MFS Africa

Headquarters: South Africa, Africa
Founding year: 2010
Total funding: US$125 million
Founders: Dare Okoudjou

MFS Africa provides a pan-African digital payments gateway aimed at increasing interoperability between payment schemes, borders and currencies. The company’s solution connects mobile money wallets for cross-border payments.

The company raised US$100 million in a Series C equity and debt mix led by AfricInvest FIVE, Goodwell Investments and LUN Partners. CommerzVentures, Allan Gray Ventures, Endeavor Catalyst, Endeavor Harvest and ShoreCap III also participated.