Nigeria’s Sudo Africa raises $3.7M pre-seed for its card-issuing API platform

Sudo Africa, a fintech company in Nigeria that offers a card-issuing API to developers and enterprises, has acquired $3.7 million in pre-seed capital.

Global Founders Capital (GFC), based in San Francisco, led the financing. Picus Capital, LoftyInc Capital, Rallycap Ventures, Kepple Africa, Berrywood Capital, ZedCrest, and Suya Ventures are among the investors.

Several African fintech entrepreneurs, like Olugbenga 'GB' Agboola, Ham Serunjogi, and Odun Eweniyi, are also investors.

Card-issuing API (pioneered by the likes of Rapyd, Ayden, and even Stripe worldwide) is gradually attracting the attention of investors who believe it's the next big thing in a sector that has drawn the most VC funds in Africa, similar to many other API-led fintech companies.

Sudo Africa's founders, Aminu Bakori and Kabir Shittu, told TechCrunch that the opportunity to build Sudo came from a problem they encountered while trying to issue cards at their previous startup: a mobile wallet system that allowed users to aggregate existing financial institutions into a single platform and conduct transactions.

"At some point, we decided to issue cards and partnered with one of Nigeria's local banks," CEO Bakori explained. "They were given the ability to print up to 1,000 cards, but it took a long time and none of them worked because the bank was unable to provide any APIs for us to manage the cards or even control their use." We came around for the first time that day, thinking about how to give cards."

According to Bakori, the fintech landscape is one in which, while entrepreneurs build silo interfaces that allow their clients to send and receive payments between themselves, problems develop when global financial systems are involved.

Using a mobile wallet or local card in Nigeria to make an Amazon purchase, for example, is always a nightmare. This has become less of an issue with the advent of virtual dollar cards in a few digital banks and fintech companies. This technology is powered by card-issuing API fintech companies like Kaduna-based Sudo Africa.

Customers are told that whereas banks take weeks or months to issue cards, Sudo Africa does so in days. The company's infrastructure, which is built in collaboration with licensed card issuers, allows it and any developer or merchant who joins its platform to issue virtual and physical cards to their clients. Businesses can also customize and program cards to their liking, add functionality, and securely integrate with other services on the platform.

Sudo's customers come from a variety of industries, according to Shittu, the company's COO. Fintech companies, microfinance banks, non-tech organizations, government agencies, logistics firms, commercial banks, and e-commerce firms are among them, according to him.

Sudo Africa is now the only company in this market that only provides virtual and physical cards to Nigerians. Despite being founded in Zambia, Union54 has consumers all around Africa. Flutterwave claims to assist retailers in 35 African markets in issuing virtual cards, with real cards currently available only in Nigeria.

Sudo Africa, which is setting an example for other fintech companies and startups seeking to build a name for themselves outside of Lagos, is likely to want to expand to other African markets with this funding, not necessarily due to competition, but rather due to necessity. "Right present, our main priority is expanding into other African countries." So, we're expecting to be in three or four additional African countries by the end of the year," said the chief operating officer.