Mono, which was launched in 2020, assists digital businesses in Africa in gaining access to their customers’ financial accounts for data and payments. Open finance players like Mono are working to improve financial inclusion and connectivity in a region where more than half of the population is unbanked or underbanked. Open finance has demonstrated that open APIs provide new ways for the underbanked to move money, access financial information, and make borrowing decisions, lowering the barriers and costs of entry. Carbon, Aella Credit, Credpal, Renmoney, Autochek, and Inflow Finance are among the more than 16 financial institutions and over a hundred businesses in Nigeria with whom Mono has partnered. Customers’ bank accounts are accessed for bank statements, identity data, and balances. It has also connected and analyzed over 66 million financial transactions for its partners. Entrée Capital, Kuda’s co-founder and CEO, Babs Ogundeyi; Gbenga Oyebode, partner at TCVP; Eric Idiahi, co-founder and partner at Verod Capital; and VC Lateral Capital are among the investors in this seed round. This investment comes just nine months after Mono secured $125,000 from Ycombinator and $500,000 in pre-seed funding last September. A total of $2.625 million has been invested in the company. The funds will also be used to expand the company’s operations in Kenya and Ghana. Abdul Hassan, the company’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO), stated that their expansion was motivated by their customers’ desire to expand into new markets. They collaborate with their customers to provide them with the tools they need to create new experiences for them.
