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SlimTrader details plans around US$1m investment

Nigeria , 22 Oct 2015

SlimTrader details plans around US$1m investment

Turn-key ecommerce solution provider for businesses in Africa, SlimTrader has emerged the second beneficiary of the Interswitch ePayment Growth Fund.

The company has received a US$1 million investment from Interswitch, an Africa-focused integrated digital payments and commerce company.

In a statement, investors said the additional funding provides the clearest sign yet of the power of SlimTrader's flagship ecommerce platform, MoBiashara as it expands into the hospitality sector.

SlimTrader says it will use the funds to ramp up operations and "help more hotels expand their market reach."

Interswitch ePayment Growth Fund is a $10 million fund that serves as a catalyst for innovation and disruptive business concepts within the African payment industry. The fund had earlier invested $850,000 in Africa Courier Express (ACE).

Through the fund, Interswitch said it is collaborating with entrepreneurs and start-up businesses developing innovative products and services that empower Africans to participate in the emerging payment ecosystems currently transforming business on the continent.

Mitchell Elegbe, Founder and Group Managing Director of Interswitch, said: "SlimTrader is a dynamic and ambitious business dedicated to growing Africa's ecommerce sector. This makes them an ideal candidate for investment from the Interswitch ePayment Growth Fund. At Interswitch we are committed to encouraging innovative ideas in the digital payments and commerce space in Africa and are excited to be working with SlimTrader to expand MoBiashara services into the hospitality sector."

MoBiashara is an online hotel management platform that facilitates the management of offline and online reservations. It is run in collaboration with channel partner such as TripAdvisor and hotelnownow.com.

Speaking on the new investment, Slim Trader's founder and CEO, Femi Akinde stated, "We remain committed to our mission of unlocking the potential in African businesses. This funding puts more hotels a click away from their own free property management system, website booking engine and channel manager; connecting them to multiple local and international online booking sites. We see this as transformational to the sub-Saharan Africa hospitality industry."

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