Duplo Announces $4.3 Million Seed Round
The Nigerian startup is making sending and receiving money easy for businesses.
Duplo has announced the close of its $4.3 million seed round. The seed funding would help the company launch new products and expand into new business verticals in Nigeria
According to Duplo, the seed funding round included participation from Liquid2 Ventures, Soma Capital, Tribe Capital, Commerce Ventures, Basecamp Fund, and Y Combinator. Oui Capital also re-invested after participating in the previous $1.3 million pre-seed round.
The seed funding would help the company launch new products and expand into new business verticals in Nigeria. FMCG distributors can onboard retailers in their network on the Duplo platform, making it easier for them to collect payments digitally and access real-time insights into business performance.
These users can also automate payments to vendors, manufacturers, and suppliers, with instant payments enabling them to transact in larger quantities.
Yele Oyekola, the startup’s Co-Founder and CEO said: “I think we’re solving a very big problem, in a very big market, and with a very good team. We didn’t find difficulties in raising money, and I think a lot of founders, once you’re solving a very important problem with a good team and some growth, I think investors will still back you regardless of the downturn that is happening globally.”
“When we raised our pre-seed round, the idea was to build the initial product and understand the market, but the opportunity was endless, and that’s why we went back out to raise a seed round to help us scale faster within Nigeria. For us, it’s just trying to double down on our approach, capture as much market value as possible, and help educate the market,” Oyekola added.
The company affirms to have increased the number of businesses on its platform by 1000% in the last six months and has a Total Payment Volume that has also increased by 4200% in the last 5 months.
The company now wants to turn its attention to industries like construction, medical services, pharmaceuticals, and health in the next few months. Long term, the business plans to serve every sector while introducing new services, including buy now, pay later and international remittance.