Ivory Coast-based fintech startup, Julaya, has raised US$2 million in its pre-series A fundraising round.

The funds, according to Julaya, would be used to grow and expand its product in West Africa, launch new digital payment products, and expand its team.

The fundraising round had participations from investors such as Orange Ventures, MFS Africa Frontiers, Saviu Ventures, Launch Africa Ventures, and 50 Partners Capital.

Julaya also received investments from a number of angel investors from Africa, as well as Europe.

Founded by Mathias Léopoldie and Charles Talbot (who had both worked at French payment fintech startup, LemonWay) in 2018, Julaya, with its B2B payment platform, works by leveraging the wide coverage of telecom operators to offer payment options to businesses.

The startup has a customer base that includes small businesses, large corporations, and government institutions.

While speaking on the Julaya’s mission, co-founder and CEO, Mathias Léopoldie, said,

“Having worked in the nascent mobile money industry, we realized that the large consumer penetration of telecom operators would benefit businesses that wanted to reach the unbanked and make fast payments. Our platform Julaya enables companies to streamline their accounting. The goal is to target local technology champions at the service of the transition to a more digital and responsible world. This funding will allow Julaya to grow and conquer West Africa with Orange Digital Center team’s support.”

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Commenting on the investment made by Orange Ventures, director of transformation for digital and media, Habib Bamba, explained that:

“Fintech’s environment in Africa is distinguished by its competitiveness and strong dynamism. Orange Group, through its technology investment fund, intends to participate in this boom by supporting fintechs such as Julaya. The goal is to target local technology champions at the service of the transition to a more digital and responsible world. This funding will allow Julaya to grow and conquer West Africa with the Orange Digital Centre team’s support.”

Julaya currently has 50 corporate customers, and more than 20 million users across 15 African countries.

The startup added that it processes about US$1.5 million monthly for its 50 corporate customers, which includes Jumia, SODECI, Ministry of Education, Ivory Coast and the World Bank.

Julaya had in 2018 raised US$250,000 in seed investment from Angel investors. It also raised US$550,000 in 2019, also from Angel investors.