South Africa based fintech start-up Paymenow announced that it has raised US$ 230K (ZAR 4 million) in its seed funding round.
SA fintech Paymenow raises US$ 231K. The round was led by ViaMedia, part of the Digital Ecosystems Group. The investment will enable Paymenow to scale both locally and across Africa and Latin America. It will also help bring about operational cash flow in the short-term.
About Paymenow
Founded by Bryan Habana and Deon Nobrega in 2020, Paymenow is based in Stellenbosch. It provides a financial wellness and inclusion platform which enables early access for employees to already-earned wages through a mobile app.
Paymenow’s goal is to give employees real-time 24-hour access to already earned wages at an affordable rate. The startup uses gamification to promote responsible financial behaviour and encourage saving. Paymenow aims to ease the burden inflicted by payday and micro lenders through affordable, real-time, access to cash.
Working in coordination with employers in South Africa. The app also helps cultivate savings rather than get trapped into a debt cycle.
In addition, Paymenow partners with retailers, telecommunications and other service providers to allow employees to earn more each month and reward them for using the service. Moreover, you can manage data of employees and keep a track of their cashouts.
Statements by Paymenow and ViaMedia
Managing director and co-founder of Paymenow, Deon Nobrega said that Paymenow is expecting to reach operational break-even by the end of the fiscal year. “Our business model and product, which entails a fully integrated business to business to consumer tech platform, has passed minimum viable product status and is ready to scale,” said Nobrega.
Bryan Habana, Paymenow’s co-founder and business development head said
“Digital Ecosystems Group will bring a strategic partnership from a business enablement perspective. It will also enable access to funding and working capital.
“ViaMedia and the Digital Ecosystems Group will enable us to draw down on a wealth of product and operational expertise as well as access to a funding book that will allow our business model to scale locally as well as to the rest of Africa and Latin America,” said Habana.
The cofounders also revealed that the start-up has witnessed significant traction in the last three months.
Garth Mackintosh, CEO of ViaMedia said that Paymenow further enables and accelerates the company’s mobile financial services strategy. “We are excited to welcome Paymenow to ViaMedia, and more broadly, to our stable of ICT companies. We see fantastic growth prospects and complementary product offerings and clients across many of our group companies,” said Mackintosh.
