Nigerian Edmund Olotu’s TechAdvance raises $1m from Bahrain investor

Lagos-based payments infrastructure firm TechAdvance has secured $1-million in funding from Bahrain’s Lamar Holding.

TechAdvance was founded in 2009 by CEO Edmund Olotu (pictured above) and develops payments applications.

Olotu hit Ventureburn headlines earlier this year when he accused Polish entrepreneur Marek Zmyslowski of defrauding Nigerian investors and provided details thereof in a blog post at the time (see this story and this one).

It comes as last month Håvar Bauck, the Norwegian entrepreneur who hit the news earlier this year over his dealings with Zmyslowski announced that his Kenyan travel tech startup HotelOnline had raised $320 000 (see this story).

Although technically not a startup anymore, TechAdvance has six platforms offering solutions in the payments space, namely: Transfer2Africa, GPay, PayElectricity Bill, Bus.com.ng, Pay.me, and Bill.com.ng.

TechAdvance was included in the London Stock Exchange Group’s Companies To Inspire Africa 2019 report

The firm said in a statement on Friday (9 August) that it will use the funding — its first external investment — to support its emerging market expansion.

It is not clear which countries TechAdvance is looking to expand to, it is likely these include markets in the Middle East.

The company said it has received an approval for a payment solution service provider (PSSP) license from the Central Bank of Bahrain.

Ventureburn sought comment from the company on its expansion plans, among other questions, but had not received a response at the time of publication.

TechAdvance pointed out in its statement that it is shifting from being a technology business process outsourcing (BPO) provider to a “key player” in the digital financial services and transportation software.

The company also said it recently — through its subsidiaries — acquired a microfinance bank and obtained an approval in principle from the Central Bank of Nigeria for a PSSP license.

Olotu explained in TechAdvance’s statement that the payments space in emerging markets is “abound with opportunities” yet faces a lot of challenges, especially around personal finance, accessing loans, maximising savings and financial education for the unbanked and last-mile users.

“These funds will allow us to shift our focus to these opportunities, especially the launch of our digital bank, without compromising our existing business lines,” said Olotu.

Lamar Holding vice president Hani Abdulhadi said the investment is an opportunity for the investment holding company and TechAdvance to collaborate and distribute its suite of digital solutions to emerging markets in Africa and the Middle East.

“We were seed investors in one of TechAdvance portfolio companies since 2011, and it is impressive what Edmund and the team has been able to achieve since then,” added Abdulhadi.

TechAdvance was earlier this year highlighted in the London Stock Exchange Group’s Companies To Inspire Africa 2019 report (opens as PDF).

It’s a privilege to be included in the London Stock Exchange Group @LSEGplc Companies to Inspire Africa Report #inspireafrica2019 with other high-growth businesses on the continent 🌍 cc @techadvanceng pic.twitter.com/WhZLpyCqyj

— Edmund Olotu (@pyjama_ceo) January 16, 2019

Featured image: TechAdvance founder and CEO Edmund Olotu (TechAdvance via Twitter)