Interswitch has received a joint investment of $110 million from Leapfrog Investments and Tana Africa Capital. The announcement came on Wednesday from the two private investors. The African payments company failed to confirm the amount it received and a spokesperson said that. “The exact terms of the transaction haven’t been disclosed. We can’t comment on that for now.” Both its new valuation and the amount received were not disclosed by Interswitch.
The new funding will be used to scale its operations and digital payment services across Africa. In a statement, the company’s CEO Mitchell Elegbe said that Interswitch was “excited to welcome LeapFrog and Tana on board, as we continue our work to advance the future of the African payments landscape.”
The company’s last known funding round was three years ago when it received $200 million for a 20 percent stake from Visa. Its last known valuation is $1 billion. The latest funding round, therefore, comes after these.
The company is one of the continent’s biggest payments companies and plays significant roles in powering the online banking system in its home country Nigeria and in Africa.
As part of the deal Leapfrog Investments and Tana Africa Capital will be acquiring shares from existing shareholders. These investors plan to work with other investors to support Interswitch’s pan-African strategy and help the payments company to attain its goals of acquiring new customers and building new products to increase financial inclusion in Africa.
In a statement, LeapFrog Investments partner and head of Africa financial services, Karima Ola said that “Interswitch, a pioneer in the African payments ecosystem, has been disrupting the cash economy, driving digital payments and promoting equitable financial inclusion in Nigeria for two decades. This investment by LeapFrog affirms the formidable talent at Interswitch and how well-placed it is to seize the significant opportunity in Africa’s evolving digital payments landscape.”
