Anchor is a Nigerian banking-as-a-service (BaaS) platform that provides APIs, dashboards and developer tools to help businesses embed bank accounts, payments, cards and other financial services. The product now supports business accounts, card issuance, bill payments, bulk disbursements, cross-border payments and developer features such as audit logs and webhooks. Anchor partners with regulated banks and says it shortens the time to build banking products from years to days. The startup went live in August last year after emerging from stealth and has grown to roughly 270 clients, with about 63 firms actively transacting. Anchor reports more than $550 million in annualized total transaction volume and revenue growing about 30% month-on-month; revenue comes from processing fees, issuance fees and interest on float. Customers include fintechs, SaaS firms, e-commerce marketplaces and tech-enabled businesses such as Bujeti, Pennee, SeamlessHR, Lifebank, Waza and Zit.ng. Following the new funding, the company plans to improve end-to-end compliance, invest in a ledger system, expand product offerings and onboard more customers, and is in early talks about Pan-African expansion. Anchor offers APIs, dashboards and developer tools to help startups embed and build banking products such as bank accounts, funds transfers, savings, card issuance and loans. The seven-month-old, YC-backed fintech ran a private beta in May that was accessed by more than 30 startups including Pivo, Outpost Health, Dillali and Pennee. Anchor says it is transacting several millions of dollars and growing 200% month-on-month. The company generates revenue by charging fees and taking cuts across billable services (account issuing, money movement, savings and deposits). After coming out of stealth, Anchor plans to use its new capital to hire talent, improve tech infrastructure, invest in compliance and regulatory systems, and acquire customers. The founding team brings prior payments and fintech experience from Amplify, JUMO, AppZone, TeamApt, Kuda, Carbon and Booking.com, which the company cites as a competitive advantage.

Total raised

$3M

Funding rounds

2

Latest round

Seed

Latest activity

Sep 2023