Zone, a payment infrastructure company, has raised $8.5 million in an oversubscribed seed funding round led by Flourish Ventures and TLcom Capital, both venture capital firms.
According to a statement from the company on Monday, the new funding will enable Zone to expand the coverage of its network further domestically and connect more banks and financial services companies.
“The new funding will enable Zone to expand the coverage of its network further domestically and connect more banks and financial services companies,” the statement said.
It said a significant portion of the proceeds will be allocated to conducting a comprehensive pilot program to test the company’s cross-border capabilities, scheduled for 2025.
“The participation of high-quality investors despite the funding drought and the fact that we had more interested investors than we needed, is a sign of trust in the Zone brand and investor excitement about the opportunity to redefine payment infrastructure in Africa,” Obi Emetarom, CEO and co-founder of Zone, said.
“As we step into this new phase at Zone, we are re-energised and our commitment to transforming Africa’s payment infrastructure is renewed. Our new investors and existing shareholders including CCA, Lateral Capital, Constant Ventures and V8 bring more than just financial backing as their global scope and deep expertise make them invaluable partners for us,” he added.
According to Emetarom, the company is poised to accelerate our mission to connect every monetary store of value and enable real-time payments within and across geographical borders.
“Zone is committed to staying at the forefront of technological advancement and industry evolution in financial services.”
Ameya Upadhyay, partner at Flourish Ventures, said Zone’s technology enables direct communication between participants in the payment ecosystem for the first time in Africa.
“We believe this is a fundamental leap that will allow customers to experience a completely new standard of reliability, speed and cost efficiency at the ATM, at POS machines and online. We are excited by the potential for Zone’s technology to be replicated across borders to advance payment innovation globally.
“The fact that Zone is led by Obi and Wale who are veterans of the banking industry reinforces our conviction that Zone can fulfill our shared goal of moving the entire sector forward,” he added.
Zone stated that another key priority is to ensure that it is well-prepared to extend its footprint across Africa to support intra-African and international payments which will bring the company closer to its vision of becoming a global payment network.
