Fintech Giant Chipper Cash Weighing Potential Sale – Fintech Bitcoin Update

One Of Africa’s major fintechs, Chipper Cash, is currently debating a potential sale or acquisition. According to reports, the business is looking into its options, including the option of new investors or a sale. Bloomberg has reported that the fintech, which started evaluating its options prior to SVB’s abrupt collapse, has yet to make a final call on the course of action it will take.

Chipper Cash Not Seeking an Acquisition

The FTX Silicon Valley Bank (SVB)-backed African fintech giant, Chipper Cash, is currently weighing its options, including a sale or bringing on new investors. Bloomberg reported, citing unnamed sources, that the fintech had been exploring its options prior to SVB’s collapse. As of yet, the fintech has yet to decide on the path it will take.

As previously reported by Bitcoin.com News, Chipper Cash had a successful fundraising campaign by the end of 2021, raising over $150 million in a series C extension led by the now-defunct crypto exchange FTX. SVB was the leader of the first Series C, with C. Deciens Capital, Ribbit Capital, Bezos Expeditions, One Way Ventures, and Tribe Capital all participating.

However, following the tumultuous 2022, which culminated in the FTX’s collapse, Chipper Cash’s valuation dropped from $2 billion in Q4 of 2022 to $1.25 Billion by December 2022. The fintech also had to reduce its workforce as a result of rising costs.

Minimal Exposure to SVB

Speculation has been fueled by the U.S. authorities’ shutdown of SVB that Chipper Cash — a client of SVB — would be hard hit by the bank’s collapse. In a statement to Bloomberg, however, Chipper Cash asserted that the owners never thought of selling the business.

“It’s been fairly common practice for us to receive various M&A proposals from different parties, which we evaluate to varying degrees. That being said, we have never sought to be acquired,” the fintech stated.

In his March 12 message for stakeholders, Chipper Cash co-founder and CEO Ham Serunjogi noted that the fintech unicorn had not been exposed to the SVB or Signature Bank. At the time of SVB’s collapse, Chipper Cash had approximately $1 million in its possession.

Serunjogi also sought to downplay SVB’s impact on the fintech by noting the collapsed bank’s share in Chipper Cash.

“SVB wasn’t the only investor in that round – we had several other new and existing investors participate in the $100m round – and SVB owns a very small part of Chipper ~2%. Chipper is blessed with a very wide and supportive investor base that has been backing us from the start and continues to do so today,” the CEO declared.

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Terence Zimwara

Terence Zimwara is a Zimbabwe Award-winning journalist, author, and writer. He has written extensively about economic issues in some African countries and how both paper and digital currencies can provide Africans with an escape route.