M Kopa Raises 75 Million

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M Kopa Raises 75 Million

M-KOPA Raises $75 Million

M-KOPA is in the expansion mode and lately has raised $75 million to make investments in further improving its financial services platform. Currently, it is operational in Ghana, Nigeria, Uganda and Kenya. It will be focusing on stepping into more countries.

The company was founded in 2011 by Nick Hughes, Jesse Moore and Chad Larson. Headquartered in Nairobi, Kenya, its range of products includes financial services, smartphones, fridges, television and solar energy. Kopa means borrow in native language Swahili and M in the name refers to mobile.

The fresh capital raised in a growth equity round will help the company to expand its business beyond asset financing. It will be scaling several other products including cash loans, BNPL (buy now pay later) and health insurance.

As of now, M-KOPA has financed to about 2 million people worth $600 million since 2012, when it commercially launched the business in Kenya.

Generation Investment Management and Broadscale Group led the equity round and other significant participants include HEPCO Capital, LocalGlobe's Latitude Fund, LGT Lightrock and CDC Group. The total equity funding now stands at $190 million.

M-KOPA co-founder and CEO Jesse Moore said the backing of investors is an added advantage for the company to enhance expansion and simultaneously serve more customers in the region.

He added that the innovative model of the company has empowered more than 2 million people financially through the process of micropayments and millions more need to be served across Africa. With the latest funding, they will expand to more markets and can serve more than 10 million people in near future.

The company has combined the micropayments platform with IoT to serve more easily more people with financial products. Customers can now enjoy a flexible payment model.

Andrew Shapiro, the Broadcasting Managing Partner of the company, said the advanced level tech-enabled approach helps in providing essential financial services and consumer goods to people.

The company has been recognized and awarded by various institutions over time including Bloomberg Energy Finance Award and the Financial Times. It found a place in Fortune Magazine in 2016 and ranked top as in the list of Most Innovative Companies in 2018. A year later it was listed in the Cleantech 100 companies.

Several brands and manufacturers are partnering with it in the finance and mobile network segments including Safaricom. Its daily payments system is powered by M-Pesa. The company maintains an R&D unit in Kenya to research and test new technology on its platform.

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