FUNDING | Nigerian Embedded Finance Fintech, Anchor, Raises $2.4 Million After 30% MoM Revenue Growth

Anchor, a fintech startup specializing in embedded finance and supported by Y Combinator, has successfully secured $2.4 million in a seed funding round.

This investment was spearheaded by Goat Capital, and included contributions from:

• FoundersX
• Rebel Fund
• Pioneer Fund
• Byld Ventures
• Future Africa, and
• Y Combinator

among other noteworthy participants.

The Nigerian company has partnered with regulated financial institutions to offer embedded finance solutions that fintechs and SMEs can add so as to offer financial services within their core products.

When they utilize Anchor’s APIs, fintech companies and SMEs can effortlessly:

• Create bank accounts
• Issue payment cards
• Facilitate seamless payments, both incoming and outgoing, and
• Provide savings and investment offerings

All of this can be accomplished without the necessity of obtaining costly licenses.

Anchor made its public debut in August 2022 after raising $1 million pre-seed funding round and its inclusion in the Y Combinator summer cohort. Since then, the company says it has achieved a remarkable annualized total transaction volume (TTV) exceeding $550 million, and its revenue has been consistently increasing at a rate of 30% month-on-month.

“We’ve been fortunate to have been able to just grow the platform very quickly, which we believe confirms that there was actually a problem to be solved. And we just want to double down with this new funding,” said Segun Adeyemi, CEO and Co-Founder of Anchor.

When it went public, Anchor started off with 30 clients, a number which is said to have increased to 270, with approximately 63 of these firms online and actively transacting on the platform.

Anchor serves a diverse client base comprising fintech companies, SaaS providers, e-commerce platforms, online marketplaces, and various technology-driven businesses. Some notable customers on its portfolio include:

• Bujeti
• Pennee
• SeamlessHR
• Lifebank
• Waza, and
• Zit.ng

among others

The startup is in preliminary talks regarding the possibility of expanding its operations across the Pan-African region, and could become a lead in the space according to Justin Kan, a partner at lead investor, Goat Capital.

“The embedded finance market in Africa is nascent but growing fast at over 30% CAGR,” said Kan. “Anchor’s growth rate is impressive and showing signs of becoming the category leader, which is something we look out for in our portfolio companies.”