Sudanese fintech firm Bloom has reportedly raised $6.5 million in a seed funding round led by payments giants Visa, Y Combinator, US-based VCs Global Founders Capital and Goodwater Capital as well as UAE-based VentureSouq. The investment follows the startup’s undisclosed pre-seed round last year.
Bloom, which offers a high-yield savings account and adjacent digital banking services, said that the fundraising round also received participation from investors angels Arash Ferdowsi, Dropbox co-founder; Nicolas Kopp, former US CEO of N26; footballers Blaise Matuidi and Kieran Gibbs and early employees at Revolut and Tide, said a Techcrunch report.
The investment from Visa is part of the incentives for Bloom’s participation in the global card scheme’s Fintech Fast Track Program as the YC-backed digital banking app said it is the first Sudanese startup to join the programme.
“Visa’s Fintech Fast Track Programme allows companies such as Bloom to receive incentives—reduced costs, faster onboarding, marketing support, in addition to dedicated hands-on support to launch Visa’s swathe of products,” Bloom said in a LinkedIn post on Tuesday.
Founded in late 2021, Bloom recently launched its waitlist, which saw more than 100,000 users sign up for access to the app. The company onboarded over 20,000 customers during the first two months of operations.
“Being admitted to Visa’s Fintech Fast Track Programme is a compelling statement of intent from Visa and Bloom to drive adoption of Visa cards in Sudan, and the wider East Africa region,” Merghani Mahgoub, managing director of Bloom said in a statement.
The MENA fintech sector has seen significant growth in the last few years, driven by favourable government regulations and state-backed incubators. CB Insights said the region set new funding records in 2021, with $2.1 billion going to the fintech space over 175 deals.
Bloom plans to use the funding to expand its operations across the Anglo-East African region including Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Zambia.
