Africa-focused digital payment business, OPay, has announced raising $400 million in new financing led by SoftBank Vision Fund 2, valuing the company at $2 billion.
The new financing comes two years after OPay announced two funding rounds in 2019 – $50 million in June and a $120 million Series B in November.
The round, which marks SoftBank, the Japanese investment firm, first investment in an African startup, drew participation from existing investors like Sequoia Capital China, Redpoint China, Source Code Capital and Softbank Ventures Asia.
Other investors, including DragonBall Capital and 3W Capital, also took part in the new financing round, according to a statement issued by OPay on Monday.
Currently, OPay has 160 million active African users since its inception in 2018. OPay plans to invest the funds in African countries, including Nigeria and Egypt, and in Middle Eastern markets.
“We want to be the power that helps emerging markets reach a faster economic development,” said Zhou Yahui, founder and CEO of OPay, in a statement.
Zhou also created the Chinese gaming company Beijing Kunlun Tech Co Ltd, which previously owned the popular dating software Grindr. Washington had ordered Kunlun to divest Grindr in 2019 due to worries about the security of its user data processing.
