PawaPay raises USD 9 mln seed financing

UK-based fund 88mph co-led the round with China-based MSA Capital, with participation from Zagadat Capital, Kepple Ventures and Vunani Capital.

From the World Bank’s 2015 figures quoted by PawaPay, there are over 350 million unbanked individuals in sub-Saharan Africa. Various inadequacies are responsible for this stat, but from banks’ perspectives, no incentive drives them to actually bank these people. Most unbanked people rarely earn minimum wage in their respective countries, so it’s difficult for banks to make money off these individuals. Also, opening a bank account involves many KYC (Know Your Customer) processes for this population subset.