OPay, an Africa-focused digital payment start-up founded by a Chinese entrepreneur, has secured US$400-million (R6-billion) in its latest funding round led by SoftBank Vision Fund 2, valuing it at $2-billion.
Other investors in the funding round include Sequoia Capital China, Source Code Capital, Meituan-backed fund Long-Z, Redpoint China and 3W Capital, OPay said in a statement on Tuesday.
OPay, which has notched up 160 million active users in Africa since its launch in 2018, said it will use the capital to invest in African markets including Nigeria and Egypt, as well as Middle Eastern markets.
“We want to be the power that helps emerging markets reach a faster economic development,” said Zhou Yahui, founder and CEO of OPay, in the statement.
Zhou also founded Chinese gaming company Beijing Kunlun Tech, which was once the owner of the popular dating app Grindr. Washington had ordered Kunlun to divest Grindr in 2019 amid concerns over the safety of its handling of user data. — Reported by Yingzhi Yang and Brenda Goh, (c) 2021 Reuters