Investment firm C-One Ventures has fully acquired Nigerian fintech startup Bankly, a licensed microfinance bank, as part of its mission to scale technology-driven financial services across Nigeria. The acquisition includes Bankly’s license, platform, and team, and comes with plans for a seamless integration into C-One’s growing fintech ecosystem.
A Strategic Move for Financial Inclusion
Founded in 2018 by Tomilola Adejana and Fredrick Adams, Bankly launched with a “recharge-to-save” model using voucher tokens to fund digital wallets, an approach familiar to Nigerians through mobile airtime top-ups.
Over the years, Bankly has evolved into a comprehensive financial platform, offering:
- Savings and payments
- Group contributions (ajo/esusu)
- Credit access through an agent network of over 50,000
- Financial services to over 2 million customers nationwide
Bankly’s microfinance bank license was a key milestone in helping formalize informal savings practices and improve financial inclusion, especially in rural and low-income communities.
Transition and Future Outlook
Bankly CEO and co-founder Tomilola Majekodunmi will stay on in an advisory role to support the transition. Reflecting on the acquisition, she said:
“Bankly was founded with a mission to drive financial inclusion to the last mile, and we have certainly made significant progress on that front… I’m confident this acquisition will keep the Bankly vision alive.”
Bankly last raised $2 million in seed funding in March 2024 from major investors including Flutterwave and Vault, the parent company of VANSO.
C-One Ventures: Building a Fintech Powerhouse
C-One Ventures focuses on technology and finance investments in Nigeria. Its portfolio includes:
- Fulcrum – a supply chain financing platform
- GetPayed – an all-in-one app for payments and banking
- gomoney – a digital bank offering modern app-based financial services
The acquisition of Bankly strengthens C-One’s capabilities to reach more individuals and small businesses with inclusive, digital-first financial services.
With this acquisition, C-One Ventures expands its fintech footprint and deepens its commitment to solving Nigeria’s financial inclusion challenges through licensed, scalable, and tech-enabled solutions.