Float secures $17 million to bolster digital lending in Africa

Float, a Ghana-based fintech startup has raised $17 million funding to boost its cash management and digital lending platform for African small- and medium-sized businesses.

The $17 million is cumulative of debt and equity financing. Private equity firm Cauris provided a $10 million debt and Tiger Global and JAM Fund, the investment firm of Tinder co-founder Justin Mateen, co-led the $7 million equity fund. Kinfolk, Soma Capital, Ingressive Capital, and Magic Fund also participated.

A few angel investors including Y Combinator CEO Michael Seibel, Sandy Kory of Horizon Partners, Ramp founders Karim Atiyeh and Eric Glyman, Gregory Rockson of mPharma, and Dutchie founders Zach Lipson and Ross Lipson also joined the round.

Running a small business or sole proprietorship is daunting and limited access to capital can make this twice as hard. Businesses require all the assistance they can get and this includes access to quick and hassle-free credit.

Float is helping businesses in Africa by easing credit needs with collateral-free revenue advances and giving small and medium African businesses the leverage to pursue growth.

Shout out to @Jessetheranter and @float_hq for bailing us out of a hole today with an awesome credit solution for businesses. Check it out if you're a business owner.

— Neto (@docneto) January 14, 2022

In addition to flexible credit lines for businesses to cover cash flow gaps, Float also has software tools for businesses to manage accounts and wallets in one dashboard, as well as automate bills, vendor or supplier payments, and invoice collections.

Founded in June 2021 by Jesse Ghansah and Barima Effah as a pivot from Swipe, Float has spent $10 million in credit and cash advances to businesses within seven months of its launch. The company has also introduced more features, including revenue advances and instant payouts.

With the latter, Float wants small businesses to use its platform to tap into their revenues instantly instead of using gateways, which take days to settle. Its invoice factoring helps businesses with outstanding invoices get cash advances.

Currently in Ghana and Nigeria, the fintech company will use this investment to expand to Kenya and South Africa by the second quarter of 2022, after securing the required license in those territories.

"Float set out on a mission to provide more cash flow and liquidity for millions of businesses across the continent to help them grow and reach their true potential" Ghansah stated, adding that "with this new funding, we will continue to refine both our credit and software products to deliver the best experiences for our fast-growing customer base. We are excited to be the growth partner of choice for businesses in Africa".