Chipper Cash: A look into Africa’s fintech unicorn contenders

There is no better way to announce a thriving sector than to become a unicorn – a company with a $1 billion valuation – in just three years of being established as a business.

Three years, that is what it has taken San-Francisco-based Chipper Cash founded by Kenyan duo, Ham Serunjogi, and Maijid Moujaled to amass 4 million customers, be present in seven African countries, and close to $152 million in total funding.

The latest funding that confirmed Chipper Cash’s seat on the unicorn table in Africa, as reported by TechCrunch, was a $100 million Series C round led by SVB Capital, a US-based venture capital (VC) firm.

Although Chipper Cash founders are not able to confirm the unicorn status, TechCrunch estimates that the company could be the most valuable company in Africa, with a valuation in the region of $1-2 billion.

If Chipper Cash has indeed joined the unicorn club as TechCrunch projected, it would be the second company doing so in 2021. Flutterwave in March when it raised a Series C round of $170 million to improve its technology, product, customer support, expand to new frontiers, and continue to support shops on its Store to sell to global markets. The funding was led by Avenir Growth Capital and Tiger Global Management LLC.