The need to invest in U.S. stocks in different parts of the world is on the increase and Bamboo, launched in January 2020, is one of such investment platforms in Nigeria. Two years after its inception, the startup raised $2.4 million to facilitate it, and recently announced it has raised $15 million in a series A round.
This round which was co-led by U.S.based Greycroft and Tiger Global and other investors including Motley Fool Ventures, Michael Seibel- Y Combinator CEO, among others will help the startup to scale its tech infrastructure and expand to neighbouring African countries.
“We want to give Africans and their asset managers easy, fast and secure access to global investment options that will allow them to earn real returns. We’re building the technology infrastructure powering financial services in Africa such that if you’re investing in the global capital markets from Africa, you’ll be doing so using Bamboo, directly or indirectly,” Richmond Bassey, Bamboo’s CEO and co-founder said.
Bamboo is an investment platform that unlocks global markets for Africans by providing real-time access to dollar-denominated assets via its platform. Users can fund with their dollar or local currency balance almost instantly and start investing in stocks.
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According to the company, stock investing is just developing in Nigeria, but Bamboo has managed to garner impressive numbers quickly, showing expertise in user acquisition and retention.
With more than 300,000 users, about 20 percent are active daily traders, while 75 percent never traded stocks before using the platform. In 2021, repeat depositors made up 85 percent of deposits on the Bamboo platform.
These users are charged a commission of 1.5 percent per transaction and about ₦45 or $45 on withdrawals for users with naira or dollar bank accounts, respectively. Bamboo gives access to U.S. stocks, exchange traded funds, (ETFs) and American depositary receipts (ADRs).
“We also want to make it seamless for African investors in the diaspora to discover the best investment opportunities on the continent. We’re excited about our work with local regulators so far to make this a reality,” Bassey said.
The company added that the next market for its operations in Ghana. Over 50,000 users have joined its waitlist since it announced intentions to launch in the neighbouring West African country.
Similarly, there has been some demand from Kenya and South Africa, so Bamboo will look to move into those countries soon with this new funding. The company also intends to introduce new offerings to add to its business to business (B2B) product, allowing asset managers and fintech companies to integrate Bamboo into their offerings for their customers and trademark stock-trading products.
