The B2B payments landscape in sub-Saharan Africa, valued at $1.5 trillion, is often hindered by manual invoicing and inefficient processes. Duplo, a Nigerian-based fintech startup, aims to address these challenges by providing businesses with a platform to facilitate seamless payment flows. Recently, the company announced a successful seed funding round, raising $4.3 million to bolster its offerings and expand its operations.This funding follows a $1.3 million pre-seed investment secured earlier this year, bringing Duplo’s total funding to $5.6 million. Founded in September last year by Yele Oyekola and Tunde Akinnuwa, the startup initially targeted FMCG distributors as its primary clientele. These distributors use Duplo’s platform to onboard retailers, process payments digitally, and access real-time performance insights.According to CEO Yele Oyekola, this focus has driven significant growth. “A single distributor can onboard over 1,000 retailers onto the platform, creating a ripple effect as these retailers also become Duplo users,” he explained. This approach has simplified payment tracking, reconciliation, and automation for FMCG distributors, enabling them to transact more efficiently.Beyond FMCG, Duplo now caters to finance teams within mid-sized and enterprise-level businesses. These teams benefit from automated invoice generation, bill processing, account reconciliation, and seamless integration with popular accounting tools like SAP, QuickBooks, and Microsoft Dynamics. Payments processed through Duplo sync automatically with these platforms, reducing errors and operational costs.
Expansion and Growth
Duplo is also expanding its reach to support cross-border payments. Recent surveys conducted by the startup revealed that many African businesses face lengthy delays when receiving payments from international clients. To address this, Duplo has begun facilitating payments from Nigeria to regions such as the U.S., U.K., and Europe, with settlement times ranging from 24 to 48 hours.These enhancements have contributed to exponential growth for the startup. Over the past three months, the number of businesses on Duplo’s platform has surged by 1,000%, while its total payment volume has grown by 4,200% in the last five months.“We’re also exploring new sectors,” Oyekola shared. “While we started with FMCG, we’re now seeing interest from industries like construction and telecommunications. We aim to scale our operations across Africa in the next nine to 12 months.”
Strategic Use of Funding
The recent seed funding, led by investors such as Liquid2 Ventures, Soma Capital, Tribe Capital, and Basecamp Fund, will enable Duplo to develop new products, enter additional verticals, and enhance its platform’s functionality. Existing investor Oui Capital also participated in the round.“The growth Duplo has achieved since our initial investment in 2021 is remarkable,” said Peter Oriaifo, principal at Oui Capital. “The team’s innovative approach to solving payment challenges for businesses makes us excited to continue supporting their journey.”With a focus on innovation and expansion, Duplo is poised to reshape the B2B payments ecosystem in Africa, making financial transactions faster, more reliable, and cost-effective.
