AAA OPay opens up to $50m investment

OPay opens up to $50m investment

Nigeria-based mobile payment company OPay today raised $50m in a funding round co-led by web browser producer Opera and local services platform Meituan-Dianping.

IDG Capital, Sequoia China, Source Code Capital and GSR Ventures co-led the round.

Spun out of Opera in August 2018, OPay operates a mobile payment service, though it has also expanded into verticals including motorbike ride sharing with ORide and launched a food delivery service called OFood.

The company has so far focused on unbanked users in Nigeria, where it claims to have become the largest provider of mobile payment processing over the past year, transferring more than $5m per day.

The funding will allow OPay to expand into additional countries in Africa and enter other verticals.

OPay has not revealed previous funding details, though Yahui Zhou, chairman and CEO of Opera, referred to the round as “additional capital”.

Zhou added: “By incubating OPay and supporting the company through its rapid acceleration, Opera has also demonstrated its ability to leverage its brand and consumer reach to create attractive, fast-growing businesses on the African continent.

“We are highly pleased by the team’s results and are excited to continue supporting OPay as the journey continues.”

By Thierry Heles

Thierry Heles is editor-at-large of Global University Venturing and Global Corporate Venturing, and host of the Beyond the Breakthrough podcast.

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