Pivo, a Nigerian finance firm, has raised $2 million in a seed round led by Precursor Ventures, Vested World, Y Combinator, FoundersX, and Mercy Corp Ventures. The startup provides financial services to small and medium-sized companies (SME) vendors in major manufacturing supply chains, including credit, payments, and cost management.
Nkiru Amadi-Emina and Ijeoma Akwiwu launched Pivo in July 2021, and according to Amadi-Emina, the startup has disbursed over $3 million through Pivo Capital and transacted over $4 million through Pivo Business accounts. Pivo presently has 300 engaged SMEs and 10 ecosystem partners, she told TechCabal. She noted that ecosystems are larger businesses with SMEs in their value chains, and Pivo collaborates with them to serve their SMEs.
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Interest on loans and fees on certain transactions are the foundation of Pivo’s revenue generation strategy. Currently, the startup offers two products: Pivo Business, which provides bank accounts and services like e-invoicing, bulk payments, and bill payments, and Pivo Capital, which provides finance to supply chain SMEs.
According to Amadi-Emina, there are preparations being made for an expansion into East Africa in 2023. She further stated that the business would be developing new features for already existing products, particularly in the area of payments, which is a big source of frustration for supply chain SMEs.
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To enhance transaction management and payment reconciliation, additional products will also be developed. One of the largest problems in supply chains is cash flow management, and while we’re already addressing it with our current solutions, we have a lot more in the works, she added.
When asked what factors the startup took into account before approaching investors, Amadi-Emina responded, “We were looking to involve investors in our seed round off the back of the following criteria: domain expertise, ability to follow on in subsequent rounds, and ability to provide strategic access within our chosen sector needed to support us as we scale.”