Mono, a burgeoning fintech startup with a clear focus on the African market, has successfully closed a Series A funding round, securing an impressive $15 million. This significant investment brings Mono's total capital raised to just over $17 million since its inception in 2020. The funding round was spearheaded by global investment giant Tiger Global, a notable participant in Africa's burgeoning tech scene, marking its third substantial investment on the continent this year after prior commitments to Flutterwave and FairMoney. Further reinforcing investor confidence, the round also saw participation from new strategic investors including Target Global, known for its involvement with neobank Kuda, General Catalyst, and SBI Investment. These new funds build upon previous investments from Entree Capital, Lateral Capital, GPIC, Acuity VC, and Ingressive Capital.

Co-founded in 2020 by Abdulhamid Hassan, a former product manager at Paystack, and Prakhar Singh, Mono is positioning itself as a pivotal open finance player in Africa. The startup's core mission is to empower financial applications by providing users with seamless connectivity to their bank accounts, aiming to replicate the remarkable success of Plaid in the US market. With a significant portion of the African population either unbanked or underserved by traditional financial services, Mono believes that facilitating access to a comprehensive financial ecosystem through open APIs will not only enhance access to vital financial information but also substantially reduce entry costs for the underbanked.

Since its launch, Mono has demonstrated rapid growth and impact. The company proudly states that it has already facilitated over 200 million financial data transactions, catering to a diverse network of more than 270 companies, developers, and fellow fintech entities. Abdulhamid Hassan, Mono's CEO, articulates a clear competitive advantage for the company's product suite over other players in the open finance space, such as Plaid, Okra, Stitch, and Onepipe, who are also striving to streamline financial data into a single API.

Among its innovative offerings, Mono's DirectPay service stands out. This product enables Nigerian businesses to efficiently accept bank transfer payments directly from consumers via their websites or mobile applications, eliminating the need for debit cards. Through DirectPay, Mono aspires to achieve a similar level of impact and widespread adoption as Flutterwave and Paystack, but specifically by leveraging bank accounts for transactions. Another groundbreaking product highlighted by Hassan is its "statement pages," described as the first of its kind in Africa. This feature empowers companies to securely access clients’ bank accounts without requiring dedicated developer input, simplifying a previously complex process.

While continuously refining and introducing new features tailored for the Nigerian market, Mono is also aggressively pursuing its pan-African expansion strategy. In May, the company announced its intentions to extend its reach into other key African economies, including Ghana and Kenya. Demonstrating swift execution, Mono has already successfully launched a pilot program in Ghana, engaging with a select number of banks and fintech partners. Kenya remains firmly on the company's immediate radar, with ambitious plans for further expansion into countries like Egypt and South Africa by 2022. Notably, Mono expresses optimism about completing its entry into South Africa within the current year, potentially through a strategic collaboration with Absa bank.

CEO Abdulhamid Hassan underscores the customer-centric philosophy driving Mono's operations. He explains, "At Mono, everything we do is primarily motivated by our customers. Customers in these countries who want to develop loan or fintech applications say they can’t do so until Mono is present." Hassan further adds, "People trust us because of how we’ve established our connection and the sort of goods we’ve produced in Nigeria, and they say that if we go to a nation, they’ll want to start there as well," highlighting the organic demand and trust Mono has cultivated across the continent.