Sycamore, a Nigerian peer-to-peer (P2P) lending startup, has raised an undisclosed seed round to expand its operations.
White Hibiscus Capital (WHC), a US-based venture capital firm, led the undisclosed seed funding round, which also included a number of additional private investors.
Sycamore will use the funds to boost market awareness, double down on its financial education efforts, and acquire enough engineering talent to expand its capacity as it embarks on a strategy to expand to other African countries.
Sycamore, which was founded in 2019 by Babatunde Akin-Moses, Onyinye Okonji, and Mayowa Adeosun, uses proprietary risk assessment tools to disburse business loans the same day via its website and newly announced mobile app.
The startup has already disbursed millions of dollars to thousands of small businesses in Nigeria, and it has also launched a feature that allows users to manage loans issued to family members.
The “Loan Friends” feature of the Sycamore app allows users to seek a loan from a friend or family member, which then sends scheduled reminders and automatically collects the loan on the due date.
“We’ve always been paranoid about giving our customers unique experiences. We didn’t want to just push out another “loan app” into the market without offering any additional value to them,” said Adeosun, Sycamore’s COO. “Being the customer-centric business that we are, we engaged our customers on their needs. We are proud that our app does face everyday – the management of loans given to – or received from – friends and family almost everyday.”
“Sycamore is doing an amazing job of getting loans to small businesses in record time,” said Bade Aluko, managing partner at WHC. “I love the team’s technologically-driven approach to making things seamless for its customers, and WHC looks forward to having Sycamore operational in other African countries.”