Klasha has raised $2.1 million in a seed extension round just months after the Lagos and San Francisco-based fintech company raised $2.4 million in an initial seed funding round led by Greycroft in October last year.
The seed extension round was co-led by American Express’ venture capital arm called American Express Ventures and a group of international investors. The round also received investments from existing backers such as Greycroft, Seedcamp, Plug and Play, Breega, and Berrywood Capital.
Following the extension round, the total amount of seed funding raised by the Nigerian fintech now totals $4.5 million. The startup plans to use this additional funding to expand its array of products designed for Africa’s cross-border commerce space.
The latest funding also comes on the heels of the startup’s expansion to Ghana.
Klasha was founded in 2018 by Jessica Anuna and its original focus was to enable Africans to have access to global fashion retailers and be able to purchase goods directly from them. The startup has expanded into providing APIs and various integrations that facilitates cross-border payments in Africa. The business model with which the company operates allows Africans to acquire goods directly from retailers and sellers irrespective of where they are in Africa, and to make payments.
As of last year, Klasha operated in Nigeria, Ghana, and Kenya and the fintech startup announced plans to expand into more African territories.
Speaking on the funding, the startup’s founder and CEO Jessica Anuna said that “I think the fact that AMEX is now investing in the continent, especially after investing in companies like Stripe, is really powerful.” She also revealed that Klasha is growing 20% month-on-month in merchant acquisitions and 17.5% in transaction volume. “The biggest product development is this app allowing these consumers to shop from selected stores like Boohoo.com, pay using their Klasha wallet, which you can fund by multiple different African currencies and get delivered to their door,” she said adding that “The core mission of Klasha is to streamline cross border commerce from Africa to the rest of the world. And in turn, give the rest of the world access to African consumers on the ground who want and need these goods globally.”
“We look forward to seeing the company’s innovative solutions help open up commerce for African consumers and facilitate cross-border payments. Klasha has the potential to drive spending by making payments simpler in emerging markets and allows merchants to scale within the continent and abroad,” American Express Ventures’ Global Head Matt Sueoka said.
Ibhadojemu Lucky Emmanuel is a graduate of Education and Economics from the University of Benin. He has a passion for tech and business and has been writing professionally for over a period of five years. He's written across various topics and segments and knew tech-business was it when he first stumbled on it. He has a great passion for music and arts, and wants to visit as many countries as he can someday.
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