Kudabank started out in 2016 as Kudimoney (“the bank of the free”) – an online-only savings and lending platform, and had gone
through a couple of funding rounds before transitioning into Nigeria’s first actual digital-only bank without a physical location.
• We were Kudabank’s first external investors when they participated in the Startupbootcamp AfriTech accelerator program in mid
2018. Our investment was at a post-money valuation of $225,000.
• Over the course of 2019, Kudabank raised a $1.6m Pre-Seed round led by a prominent group of Angel Investors and Fintech
experts globally at valuations ranging from $4m to $10m.
• In Nigeria, Kudabank is the most popular mobile-first challenger bank for consumers and (soon) small businesses. Since launching
in September 2019, Kudabank has picked up 1,000,000+ customers — first consumers and now also small businesses — and on
average processes over $1 billion in transactions each month.
• In August 2020, Kudabank completed a $8m Seed Round at a post-money valuation of $36m (the largest ever Seed round in
Africa) led by Target Global (Berlin-based VC), Entrée Capital and SBI Investment (once part of SoftBank, now no longer) also
participating, along with a number of other notable individual fintech founders and angels. The list includes Raffael Johnen
(founder of Auxmoney), Johan Lorenzen (founder of Holvi), Brandon Krieg/Ed Robinson (founders of Stash), and Oliver and Lish
Jung (Angel investors in Nubank, Revolut, and Chime).
• Unlike other consumer fintechs like N26, Monzo, Starling, Chime, Revolut and NuBank, Kuda does not partner with other banks to
manage and back deposits with the challenger bank to in turn focus on customer service, and building user-friendly experiences
and value-added services around money management. Instead, Kuda has obtained a microfinance banking license from the
Central Bank of Nigeria.
• Kuda manages payments, transfers, issues debit cards (in partnership with Visa & Mastercard) and has partnerships with incumbent
banks Zenith Bank, Guaranteed Trust and Access Bank for people to come in for physical deposits and withdrawals when needed.
• In February 2021, Kudabank raised a $25m Series A round from Valar Ventures at a post-money valuation of $140m.
• In August 2021, Kudabank raised a $55m Series B round led by Target Global & Valar Ventures at a post-money of $500m.
