CinetPay, a digital finance platform that enables merchants in Francophone Africa to seamlessly accept and make payments, has announced a US$2.4-million seed fundraising round from 4DX Ventures and Flutterwave.

In a statement CinetPay said the investment will boost its sales and marketing efforts across nine markets in West and Central Africa.

The company added that since its 2016 launch in Côte d’Ivoire, it has processed over 30 million transactions for 350 active merchants in nine countries, including Côte d'Ivoire, Senegal, Cameroon, Mali, Togo, Burkina Faso, Benin and Guinea.

“CinetPay’s platform provides a single interface for businesses to process over 130 different payment operators, from mobile money to credit and debit cards and e-wallets, eliminating the need for merchants to spend months integrating with different systems in order to manage sales and revenues,” reads an excerpt from the statement.

By bringing Flutterwave onboard, CinetPay is building on a successful commercial partnership that has evolved since 2019, and this investment follows Flutterwave’s recent acquisition of Disha and marks the unicorn’s first direct investment in the region.

“For a first institutional investment, we couldn’t have asked for two better partners in 4DX Ventures and Flutterwave,” said Idriss Marcial Monthe, CEO and Co-Founder of CinetPay. “We’ve watched first-hand as thousands of merchants waste crucial time, even up to 6 months, getting their payment systems in order. Now we’ve got the resources to market and sell our optimal solution across the region and we’re excited to ensure that all businesses in our region never miss a sale again. We have selected highly strategic partners as investors and are excited about the immediate next steps we take together in terms of simplifying and improving digital payments in Francophone Africa.”

According to the companies, the rapid growth in a wide range of digital payments channels across the continent over the last decade has led to a disaggregated market. Two-thirds of global mobile money transactions are driven by users in Sub-Saharan Africa, with 562 million registered accounts by the end of 2020, while the number of e-commerce users on the continent is expected to double from 281 million in 2020 to 520 million by 2025.

This trend continues with public institutions as well, with more bodies now offering digital public services, such as payments for ID cards, Visas and COVID tests, and school fees, which are often paid digitally. With such a multiplicity of payments required across different verticals from a growing number of sources, CinetPay is fast building its presence in the region.

Walter Baddoo, Co-Founder and General Partner at 4DX Ventures, said, “We’ve been tracking the Francophone Africa market for some time now, and have been impressed by Cinetpay’s ambitious goal to digitise payments across the region. The company has demonstrated deep product knowledge with a differentiated offering and a strong brand with customers. We look forward to partnering with the Cinetpay team alongside our long-time portfolio company, Flutterwave, to help usher in the next phase of digital payments across the Francophone region.”

Olugbenga Agboola, Founder and CEO at Flutterwave, added, “We’re building the payments infrastructure for Africa, making it easier for businesses to grow and expand their customer base on the continent and worldwide. Having collaborated with the Cinetpay team for a number of years now, our shared vision to simplify payments on the continent further strengthens our commitments to working towards creating endless possibilities and experiences for all our customers. Cinetpay is well positioned for the next chapter of growth and we’re excited to work with the team to help scale the business to achieve maximum impact and value for its customers.”