As part of efforts to improve financial inclusion in West Africa, Lagos based African fintech start-up, Aella raised a whopping $10m debt financing round.
The fund, which was sourced from HQ Financial Group (HQF), Singapore-based private company specializing in new material science, semiconductor and blockchain financial investments, will make a visible impact on the lives of more than 300k borrowers across Aella’s Employer Backed and Direct to Consumer Verticals, who now have access to simple financial products.
According to the report, this debt financing round is Aella’s second race and will bolster the company’s commitment to serving the underbanked population in West Africa and other emerging markets.
“Lack of access to credit and financial services has been the main impediment to MSME growth and poverty reduction in several emerging economies. Aella’s commitment to providing trustworthy credit to millions of people in the world’s emerging markets is improving financial inclusion, enabling MSME expansion and accelerating economic growth and this raise will allow us to scale our expansion across Africa quickly”, said Aella CEO, Akin Jones.
For millions of poor and low-income households, entrepreneurs, and nascent businesses in West Africa without access to financial institutions, micro-lending fintechs like Aella provide a broader array of financial products such as savings, insurance, payments and specialized loans, focused on lifting many out of poverty. Aella plans to use this funding to scale its lending operations and expand its product base into payments.
Aella will also invest in new products including a blockchain-based lending market called Creditcoin, to build borrower creditworthiness and aid in the acquisition of one million additional users by the end of 2020, making it the largest blockchain-backed financial services project that is currently operational.