Pivo, Nigerian Fintech Startup Shuts Down after Raising $2m

Pivo, Nigerian fintech startup, has closed shop after raising some $2m from over 18 investors about one year ago.

Nkiru Amadi-Emina, the CEO, and Ijeoma Akwiwu, the COO. Photo Credit: Pivo, Jayk7 Source: Getty Images

Pivo raised funds in a seed round from Y Combinator, Ventures Platform, Mercy Corp Ventures, and over 15 other investors and provided banking services to small haulage and logistics companies operating in Nigeria’s supply chain

While a source confirmed the closure to TechCabal, the company declined to provide specific details but said that will be done later.

The company was founded in July 2021 by Nkiru Amadi-Emina, the CEO, and Ijeoma Akwiwu, the COO. It provided banking services to small haulage and logistics companies operating in Nigeria’s supply chain.

Two months after its launch, Pivo raised a $100,000 pre-seed round from investors like Microtraction, FirstCheck Africa, and Rally Cap Ventures

In November 2022, the startup raised a $2 million seed round to expand its operations to East Africa and launch new products around payments, a major pain point for supply chain SMEs.

Pivo Capital, a loan product, and Pivo Commercial, a commercial banking product, were the startup’s two fintech verticals.

In the year following its founding, the company claimed to have processed over $4 million through Pivo Business and disbursed over $3 million in loans through Pivo Capital.

Additional report: Legit.ng