PalmPay, a profitable African fintech startup specializing in digital banking services, is currently negotiating a Series B funding round that could raise between $50 million and $100 million, according to multiple sources with knowledge of the discussions.

While specific details about the targeted valuation have not been disclosed, PalmPay’s last round of fundraising in 2021 positioned the company as one of Africa’s most valuable startups, placing it just below unicorn status. When approached for confirmation, a representative from PalmPay declined to give specifics on the ongoing funding talks but emphasized that the six-year-old fintech startup remains in a strong financial position and is actively exploring new avenues of growth.

To date, PalmPay has secured close to $140 million in capital from previous seed and Series A rounds, achieving profitability along the way, sources familiar with its financials confirmed. The anticipated new round, expected to include both equity and debt financing, will support PalmPay’s expansion ambitions. These include deepening its market presence in Nigeria, growing its recently introduced services targeted at businesses, and pursuing significant expansion across other African and Asian markets.

Established in 2019, PalmPay identified a significant opportunity in the Nigerian market, where over half of adults were unbanked and traditional financial institutions largely ignored the country’s informal economy. PalmPay built its platform with this underserved segment in mind, featuring instant sign-ups, no charges on money transfers, and products specifically tailored to the needs of small businesses and individual consumers. These offerings now include essentials like credit, savings, insurance, and bill payments.

Beyond digital-focused adoption strategies, PalmPay invested heavily in a vast on-the-ground merchant network—now boasting more than a million small businesses and agents serving over 10 million customers each month. This hybrid digital-physical approach has also been successfully employed by other regional fintech giants such as OPay, Moniepoint, and Paga. Consequently, PalmPay has become Nigeria’s leading fintech application by transaction volume. Approximately one-quarter of its users report that PalmPay was their first-ever financial account. Among those using its partnered credit products, more than 60% are receiving financial services for the first time.

PalmPay’s unique advantage in the distribution and marketing of its platform stems largely from its strategic partnership with Chinese smartphone giant Transsion, whose brands Tecno and Infinix combine to claim over 40% market share in Africa. Transsion-led rounds provided initial seed funding, and PalmPay benefits from pre-installed apps on financed mobile devices, driving strong user engagement growth. PalmPay’s investors also include Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund GIC and MediaTek, one of the world’s major mobile chipset producers.

Business performance metrics have shown strong and accelerating growth. PalmPay recently announced processing 15 million daily transactions, supported by a user base of approximately 35 million registered customers. Annual transaction values have reached tens of billions of dollars. Its revenue figures, reported at $64 million for 2023, have more than doubled since then, according to sources with insight into the company’s financials.

With an established market presence in Nigeria and a proven fintech approach, PalmPay is now embarking on an international expansion. The company has initiated operations in Tanzania and made recent inroads into Asia, notably in Bangladesh, where it introduces device financing and consumer lending to attract customers before expanding further financial services. PalmPay is also set to introduce consumer device financing in its home market of Nigeria.

On the corporate side, PalmPay recently introduced cross-border payments solutions designed to simplify complex payment flows across the continent. Leveraging a unified API, this new product already manages transactions valued at hundreds of millions of dollars each month, according to the company’s spokesperson. While Transsion remains an important partner, PalmPay is actively seeking additional strategic relationships with other original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) to facilitate its continued expansion and industry leadership.