OPay, a Chinese entrepreneur-founded digital payment business focused on Africa, has raised $400 million in its newest fundraising round spearheaded by SoftBank Vision Fund 2, valuing the company at $2 billion. Recalled that Flutterwave too, raised about $170 million from investors in March 2021 to expand its customer base, pushing its valuation up to more than $1 billion.
Sequoia Capital China, Source Code Capital, Meituan-backed (3690.HK) fund Long-Z, Redpoint China, and 3W Capital are among the other investors in the round, according to OPay.
OPay, which has 160 million active users in Africa since its introduction in 2018, said it will utilize the funds to invest in African and Middle Eastern countries, including Nigeria and Egypt.
“We want to be the power that helps emerging markets reach a faster economic development,” said Zhou Yahui, founder and chief executive of OPay, in the statement.
Zhou also created Beijing Kunlun Tech Co Ltd (300418.SZ), a Chinese gaming firm that was originally the proprietor of the popular dating software Grindr. In 2019, Washington ordered Kunlun to divest Grindr due to worries about the company’s management of customer data.
Educator, writer and legal researcher at Alafarika for Studies and Consultancy.