Digital savings company, Piggybank.ng, which helps users save with ease directly from their bank has raised investments funds totalling $1.1 Million. LeadPath Nigeria (led by Olumide Soyombo), Village Capital and Ventures Platform were part of the investors with the latter two contributing $50,000 each.
In addition to closing the seed funding, Piggybank announced a new product — Smart Target, which offers their users a more secure and higher return option for Esusu or Ajo group savings clubs common across West Africa. The company currently serves up to 53,000 registered users. About 60 percent of these are Nigerian Millennials and have saved in excess of $5M since 2016, when the company was founded.
The new seed funding would be channeled to “license acquisition and product development.” Probably expansion too, as the startup has taken preliminary steps to launch in other African countries, Kenya most likely.
According to Odunayo Eweniyi, “Piggybank offers savings, but our vision is not just savings, but to become a holistic platform — a financial warehouse — where other financial providers can plug in their services for PiggyBank users,” citing that banks, investment houses, insurance, and pension funds could become partners.
Lead investor, Soyombo, confirmed to TechCrunch that the company are making plans to expand well with proper plans (like an agent network) to further reach customers. He said, “The agent network business is a huge play we plan to go into. They’ve basically become like human ATMs,” Also, about investment destinations for the company’s fund savings which is currently put in government bonds and less risk ventures, he says that, “Maybe down the line stocks could be an interesting play, but not right now. People are currently looking for a more risk free place to e-tail,”