NIGERIA – Earnipay, a financial technology solution that provides flexible and on-demand salary access to income-earners, has closed a seed round of US$4million.

The funding round was led by Canaan and with participation from XYZ Ventures, Village Global, Musha Ventures, Ventures Platform, Voltron Capital, and Paystack CEO Shola Akinlade.

Earnipay plans to use the funding to accelerate the development of its technology platform to serve large enterprise employers.

By doing so, the startup will provide employees with the tools they need to make better financial decisions and improve their quality of life.

The platform uses its technology to offer employees the opportunity to access their earned salaries into their accounts flexibly, in real-time, and interest-free.

The startup partners with employers and seamlessly integrates with their payroll systems to offer its services to employees, who can then track and withdraw their accrued salaries via the app.

Businesses are able to have complete oversight and set limits for the percentage of salaries employees can withdraw each month.

Since operating in beta, Earnipay has served over 20 businesses, outsourcing firms, and HR solution providers in Nigeria including Eden Life and Thrive Agric.

The startup enables employers to offer more financial well-being support to their employees, which in turn enables them to attract and retain top talent in an increasingly competitive employment market,” said.

In addition to on-demand salary, the startup provides financial education for employees to improve their financial literacy with a goal to enable them to make better financial decisions.

By doing so, employers are improving employee engagement and productivity, as well as positioning themselves as a better place to work.

Earnipay exists to address this problem and offer an ethical alternative to instant salary access while helping employers improve employee engagement and retention at zero cost to their business.

On-demand salary access is a huge opportunity in Africa, with over 70% of Africa’s workforce (500 million people) paid every 30 days and are living paycheck to paycheck.

The 30-days pay cycle has led to 40% of the workforce living in an unending debt cycle as they struggle to match their income to their daily expenses, emergencies, and opportunities.

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