Carbon, a digital financial service firm, has acquired Vella Finance, a Nigerian fintech company, to empower Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs).
According to the statement on Wednesday, the acquisition signifies a major advancement in Carbon’s goal to provide SMEs with cutting-edge financial services powered by the latest artificial intelligence.
“Carbon spearheaded the consumer finance revolution in Nigeria in 2016. Our goal was to give consumers unprecedented access to finance from their mobile devices. Since then we have provided some loans to SMEs but not in a manner that meets our standards or the customers’ expectations,” Chijioke Dozie, co-founder of Carbon said.
“We have known the Vella Finance team for some time and admired their innovation and understanding of the market needs. We saw in them the same innovative and pioneering spirit that ignited Carbon. They had built an SME platform that we believe is unrivalled in the market and given our aspirations, the deal was a no-brainer,” he added.
Vella Finance was acquired through its parent company One Credit Limited, alongside the simultaneous launch of a groundbreaking AI-powered business banking platform.
“This is exciting news for businesses and we are thrilled to join forces with Carbon. These are trying times for businesses in Nigeria and by joining forces, we can provide businesses with a platform that provides AI-driven insights into their transactions, low-cost accessible loans, and the power of AI models built into the platform to help with any business challenge,” Mark Afolabi, founder and CEO of Vella Finance said.
While Vella Finance prioritizes customer experience, Carbon is excited about leveraging its AI-powered transaction analysis, enabling businesses to gain valuable insights from their financial data.
