Money transfer fintech Nala has raised $40 million in Series A funding to support its global expansion and enhance the reliability of payments to Africa by laying down its own payment rails.
The $40 million funding round was led by Lauren Kolodny of Acrew Capital, with participation from DST Global Partners, Amplo, and previous investors. The raise was also supported by a number of notable fintech founders including Ryan King, co-founder of Chime, Vlad Tenev, the co-founder of Robinhood and the founder of Klarna.
The fresh cash injection comes after a transformative year for Nala, which reached profitability after a 10x increase in revenue and 34x rise in transaction value. With 500,000 customers onboard, the Nala team has grown from just seven members to over 100 staff.
Nala's consumer money transfer app enables users to make secure and reliable payments from Europe, the UK, and the US to 11 African countries in seconds. The firm is also building its own B2B platform for fast payments to individuals and businesses globally on the African continent, hoping to emulate the success of dLocal in Latin America and Airwallex in Asia.
This is NALA’s second round of fundraising in 20 months, having raised $10m through Accel, Amplo, and Bessemer Partners in 2022.
Benjamin Fernandes, founder & CEO of NALA, says: "This $40 million funding round marks a pivotal moment for NALA. It will enable us to go beyond remittances and extend our reach beyond Africa, building a robust payments ecosystem. We're reinvesting this money to enhance our infrastructure, ensuring reliable, low-cost payments for all. With the launch of our own payment rails and the expansion of our B2B platform Rafiki, we're not just talking about change - we're building it. We’ve got some bold, ambitious plans, give us a couple of years."