GHANA – Float, a Ghana-based startup that gives credit lines to businesses, has secured US$17 million in capital, which it plans to use to expand its capabilities and geographically.

The seed round consisted of a US$7 million equity investment and a US$10 million debt investment.

While Cauris provided debt funding, Tiger Global (New York, USA) and JAM Fund, Tinder co-founder Justin Mateen’s investment business (Nevada, USA), co-led the equity portion.

Kinfolk (USA), Soma Capital (California, USA), Ingressive Capital (Nigeria), and Magic Fund (California, USA) are among the other VC firms investing in the equity round.

Y Combinator CEO Michael Seibel (USA), Sandy Kory of Horizon Partners (USA), Ramp founders Karim Atiyeh and Eric Glyman (USA), Gregory Rockson of mPharma (Ghana), and Dutchie founders Zach Lipson and Ross Lipson (USA) were among the angel investors who featured in the latest investment.

Float, which is already present in Ghana and Nigeria, plans to utilize the fresh money to establish presence in Kenya and South Africa by the second quarter of this year, as soon as it obtains operating licenses.

The money will also be put towards improving the company’s cash management platform and launching new credit solutions targeted at specific business verticals and industries.

“Float set out on a mission to provide more cash flow and liquidity for millions of businesses across the continent to help them grow and reach their true potential,” said the chief executive, Jesse Ghansah, in a statement.

“With this new funding, we will continue to refine both our credit and software products to deliver the best experiences for our fast-growing customer base. We are excited to be the growth partner of choice for businesses in Africa.”

Investment into Float was inspired mostly by the quality of the startup’s team. CEO Jesse Ghansah is now getting the backing of the prestigious US accelerator Y Combinator for the second time.

Ghansah previously led OMG Digital, a media company he founded which also got into YC in 2016. OMG Digital, raised US$1.1 million in seed funding in 2017.

But then again, the startup has generated considerable traction since it was founded barely two years ago.

Hundreds of enterprises from a variety of industries have signed up for Float’s cash flow management and expenditure platform in the seven months since its introduction, including retail and manufacturing, fintech, e-commerce, media, and health.

In that period, Float has also spent US$10 million on credit and made cash advances to enterprises. The company says that the volume of payment transactions (invoicing and vendor payments) has increased 26 times.

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