Africa-Focused Fintech Chipper Cash Weighs Possible Sale of Business

Share This Post

One of Africa’s fintech giants, Chipper Cash, is said to be weighing the possibility of selling the business or bringing in new investors. According to the CEO of the FTX and Silicon Valley Bank-backed fintech startup, Chipper Cash had insignificant exposure to both SVB and Signature Bank.

Chipper Cash ‘Never Sought to Be Acquired’

The FTX and Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) backed-African fintech giant, Chipper Cash, is weighing options including the sale of the business or bringing in new investors, a Bloomberg report that cites unnamed sources has said. According to the report, the fintech, which began exploring its options before SVB’s abrupt collapse, is yet to make a final decision on which course of action it will take.

As previously reported by Bitcoin.com News in late 2021, Chipper Cash successfully raised $150 million in a Series C extension that was led by the now-collapsed crypto exchange FTX. SVB, which led the first Series C, also participated in the round as did Deciens Capital, Ribbit Capital, Bezos Expeditions, One Way Ventures, and Tribe Capital.

However, following a turbulent 2022 which climaxed with FTX’s collapse, Chipper Cash saw its valuation drop from $2 billion in the fourth quarter (Q4) of 2022 to $1.25 billion by Dec. 2022. Faced with rising costs, Chipper Cash also trimmed its workforce.

Insignificant Exposure to SVB

Meanwhile, the shutdown of SVB by U.S. authorities is reported to have fueled speculation that Chipper Cash — a client of SVB — would be hard hit by the bank’s demise. However, in a statement sent to Bloomberg, Chipper Cash insisted that the owners had never considered selling the business.

“It’s been fairly common practice for us to receive various M&A proposals from different parties, which we evaluate to varying degrees. That being said, we have never sought to be acquired,” the fintech reportedly said.

In his March 12 message to stakeholders, Chipper Cash co-founder and CEO Ham Serunjogi claimed the fintech unicorn had insignificant exposure to both SVB and Signature Bank. At the time of SVB’s collapse, Chipper Cash had about $1 million held at the bank.

Serunjogi also sought to downplay SVB’s perceived influence on the fintech by pointing to the collapsed bank’s shareholding in Chipper Cash.

“SVB wasn’t the only investor in that round – we had several other new and existing investors participate in the $100m round – and SVB owns a very small part of Chipper ~2%. Chipper is very fortunate to have a very broad and supportive investor base that has supported us from our earliest days and continues to do so today,” the CEO said.

Register your email here to get a weekly update on African news sent to your inbox:

What are your thoughts on this story? Let us know what you think in the comments section below.

Read Entire Article
spot_img

Related Posts

Hedge Fund Goes Long Bitcoin, Short MicroStrategy: Details

Kerrisdale Capital, a hedge fund, today disclosed a nuanced investment thesis: going long on Bitcoin while concurrently taking a short position on MicroStrategy shares This move is predicated on the

US Senate Candidate Calls for Resignation of SEC Chair Gary Gensler

US Senate candidate John Deaton has called for the resignation of US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chairman Gary Gensler “Under Gensler, the SEC has forgotten, or intentionally

Venom Blockchain Developed In Abu Dhabi Drives Web3 Ecosystem Expansion

Abu Dhabi, known for its economic strength in the oil industry, has entered the realm of blockchain technology with a team that built the Venom Blockchain for Web3 application, which recently

Shiba Inu Lead Dev Tells Ethereum Founder, ‘It’s Just The Start’, Here’s Why

Shiba Inu (SHIB) lead developer, Shytoshi Kusama, recently told Ethereum’s co-founder Vitalik Buterin that he should expect more improvement from the SHIB ecosystem soon This comes in response to

Shiba Inu Going To $0.0001: Crypto Analyst Reveals What Will Drive The Rally

Shiba Inu has gone on various price spikes in the past few months amidst a surge in activity and interest in the meme coin This price movement has prompted traders and analysts to ponder on when SHIB

Venom Blockchain Launch Triggers Huge Surge In User Adoption, Surpassing 1 Million In A Single Day

With the growing adoption of blockchain technology in various digital asset infrastructures, a team from Abu Dhabi, known for its wealth from the oil industry, has made a significant entry into the
- Advertisement -spot_img