A spokesperson disclosed to Bloomberg that the development was already being discussed privately before the SVB’s closure, hence, not the reason for this. It was also revealed that the fintech might choose to go ahead or not.

In response to this, Chipper Cash told Bloomberg that the news is false.

“It’s been fairly common practice for us to receive various M&A proposals from different parties, which we evaluate to varying degrees. That being said, we have never sought to be acquired.”

Considering that the unicorn raised $150 million in a Series C extension round in 2021, valuing it at over $2 billion, this news left a lot of us wondering. Minds shifted to the fact that the startup might have been affected by SVB’s closure for the same reason that FTX was affected – withdrawal crunch.

Emphasizing the closure of SVB having little or no effect on the fintech, Ham Serunjogi, Chipper Cash CEO said: “Given the scale and complexity of our global operations, Chipper Cash maintains multiple banking relationships across the world – including multiple within the United States. As such, we had a very limited amount of money (only about $1M) held in our SVB account at the time the bank was taken over by the California regulator. We have already received confirmation from the FDIC that we can expect about half the funds back by Monday, March 13th 2023. Furthermore, there was absolutely no impact on our customer operations around the world.”

Speaking further, he said: “From a financial perspective, it doesn’t really change anything. SVB made their investment in Chipper in 2021 and we received those funds as soon as that round closed. What is happening now doesn’t change that. Additionally, SVB wasn’t the only investor in that round – we had several other new and existing investors participate in the $100m round – and SVB owns a very small part of Chipper ~2%. Chipper is very fortunate to have a very broad and supportive investor base that has supported us from our earliest days and continues to do so today.”

Chipper Cash enables users send and receive money across Africa seamlessly, with free transfers and affordable cross-border rates.

Having garnered over 5 million users since inception in 2018, Chipper Cash affirms to have issued 300,000+ visa cards and has a total process volume per quarter of more than $1.5 billion.

The uncertainty in the tech and startup landscape which started in 2022, seems to be ushering in some form of difficulties in various sectors.

Disclosing the news via his LinkedIn page, the Vice President of Revenue at Chipper Cash Stefano Pardi, referred to the occurrence as a sad one for the company. He wrote:

“Friday was a sad day for Chipper Cash, as many talented people were let go.

For my network: there is an incredibly talented pool of individuals across the US, UK, South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya, and more. They are all highly experienced in managing very complex, multicultural teams and projects in Fintech. All areas have been impacted, from Recruiting, HR, Marketing, Pricing, Product, Analytics, UX, Research, Legal, and more.

If you are recruiting: look out for the Chipper Cash folks, you might have the opportunity of a lifetime to hire competent, passionate, and driven people into your team. They are all battle-scarred and experienced in scaling a business!

For my Chipper family, my network is open to you. Reach out/connect if you need help! I have been honored to work with many of you and I am here to support as I can.”

Leveraged across five African countries including Nigeria and Kenya, as well as the US and UK, the fintech company enables bill payment, cross-border money transfers and bitcoin purchases.

It earns revenue through foreign-exchange fees and crypto brokerage commissions. From about two million registered users in 2020 to more than five million by the end of 2021, Chipper Cash has continued to grown commendably. 

The company was founded by Ham Serunjogi and Maijid Moujaled, and was one of Africa’s unicorns in 2021 when it raised $150 million Series C funding in an extension round led by Sam Bankman-Fried’s now-defunct cryptocurrency exchange platform FTX, and was valued at $2.2 billion. The startup has raised $280 million in funding from Deciens Capital, FTX Ribbit Capital and others.

These efforts of individuals and groups have boosted the continent’s worldwide recognition in the sector. With this, African startups are gaining more ground and one of such successes is Chipper Cash and Esusu.

These two startups made it to the Forbes Fintech 50 list, 2022; Chipper Cash under Payments and Esusu under Personal Finance categories.

The Forbes Fintech 50 list 2022 comprised mostly new companies. “The result was a gusher of promising new businesses, with half of the 2022 Fintech 50 winners new to our annual list. That’s the most since our inaugural list in 2015, when all 50 were, by definition, first-timers. One new standout is Chipper Cash, a San Francisco-based startup launched by two twentysomethings from Uganda and Ghana that helps Africans transfer money cheaply, buy U.S. stocks and invest in crypto. Founded in 2018, it already has more than five million users and a $2.2 billion valuation. As always, our list is restricted to still-private companies with headquarters or substantial operations in the U.S.”

Chipper Cash

Chipper Cash makes sending and receiving money across Africa with free transfers and low cross-border rates.

The company asserts to have over 4 million users with 40,000 new users daily, has an average transaction time of 0.03 seconds and carries out 80,000 transactions per day.

Last year, the fintech closed a $100 million Series C round to introduce more products and grow its team. This followed its $30 million Series B led by Ribbit Capital and Jeff Bezos fund Bezos Expeditions, before which it closed a $13.8 million Series A round from Deciens Capital and other investors in June 2020.

Towards the end of last year, the startup raised a $150 million extension round which boosted its valuation to $2 billion and brought about it’s unicorn status.

Esusu

Esusu is a financial technology platform focused on helping individuals save money and build credit. The platform can be likened to the ‘ajo’ type of savings done within groups in Nigeria. It simplifies and automates thrift savings, collection, microcredit and financial inclusion.

Esusu became a unicorn this year, after raising $130 million in a Series B round led by SoftBank Vision Fund 2. Prior to this, the startup closed a $10 million Series A funding round, led by Motley Fool Ventures with Investment from Serena Williams’ Serena Ventures.

Founded in 2018 by Abbey Wemimo and Samir Goel, Esusu also provides rent reporting, rich property management analytics, and rental assistance unlocking financial access and stability for renters and property owners alike.