Bitmama, a blockchain payments startup based in the United States and Africa, has raised an additional $1.65 million in funding, bringing its total pre-seed round to $2 million. The company received a $350,000 pre-seed investment from Unicorn Growth Capital, Launch Africa Ventures, Adaverse, and Flori Ventures in October 2021.
The new round includes existing and new investors such as Tekedia Capital, GreenHouse Capital, ODBA, Five35 Ventures, Chrysalis Capital, Enrich Africa, Thrive Africa, Angellist Ventures, and angel investors such as CELO founders Rene Reinsberg, Marek Olszewski, and Honey Ogundeyi.
Must Read: Topship Raises $2.5m Seed to Build Africa’s Flexport
Bitmama, which is currently available in Nigeria, Ghana, and Kenya, allows users to trade multiple cryptocurrencies, use their debit cards for regular online payments, pay utilities, and perform transactions such as staking to hedge against currency depreciation.
The Bitmama exchange, which allows users to access virtual assets and explore various cryptocurrency use cases, and Changera, a social payment solution that allows non-crypto-savvy customers to use their money without limits from anywhere in the world, are the startup’s main products. Ruth Iselema, founder and CEO of Bitmama, commented on the funding round, stating that both products are approaching 100,000 users across the African market and have impressive daily active users.
Must Read: Klasha, Raises Additional $2.1 Million Seed Round
“We are creating Africa’s most user-friendly, innovative blockchain company, and we are grateful to have the support of seasoned investors and partners who have tread similar ground.” “We are fortunate to benefit from their combined experiences in corporate and blockchain business verticals,” she added.
“As a leading female-focused VC fund, we at Five35 Ventures look forward to helping Ruth and her dynamic team scale Bitmama, especially seeing the growth of Changera, the remittance platform that allows all Africans to transact internationally at much lower rates than established remittance companies in the market,” said founding partner Hema Vallabh.