Sudanese FinTech Bloom Nets has $6.5 million

Sudan-based Bloom has raised $6.5 million in seed funding, FinTech announced in a press release on Wednesday (July 20).

The company’s investors include Visa, Y Combinator, Global Founders Capital and Goodwater Capital, as well as angel investors such as Dropbox co-founder Arash Ferdowsi, footballers Blaise Matuidi and Kieran Gibbs and others.

Bloom was founded by Ahmed Ismail, Youcef Oudjidane, Khalid Keenan and Abdigani Diriye to help Sudanese individuals hedge against increasing devaluation, the release said. It offers fee-free accounts for users to save in dollars and buy and spend in Sudanese pounds.

It also provides local and dollar cards and a feature where users can receive money transfers for free from several countries globally, primarily where most of the Sudanese diaspora resides. The release noted that Bloom has partnered with the Export Development Bank, which handles deposits.

The investment from Visa came as one of the incentives for Bloom’s participation in the global card scheme’s FinTech Fast Track programme, which saw Bloom switch cards from Mastercard to Visa.

In an interview with TechCrunch, Ismail said “The Visa investment is critical for companies like us for a couple of reasons. One, aligning with Visa as a partner gives you a number of benefits, launching products faster, marketing support and product support; and two, in addition to the investment, Visa Fintech Fast Track gives you access to these incentives in a streamlined way.”

In the press release, Ahmed Mohey, Visa Country Manager for Sudan and Libya, commented, “Together with Bloom, we will continue to drive acceptance of digital payments while finding opportunities to launch new products and services for Sudanese customers and merchants.”

Roel Janssen, a partner at Global Founders Capital, added: “We are very excited about our investment in Bloom. Its experienced and talented founding team has the drive and expertise to build a product that is universally valued by consumers, partners and regulators in Sudan and the wider East Africa region.”

The ability to hold foreign currency as a hedge against inflation is extremely useful in a country that has suffered from a shortage of foreign exchange reserves since the secession of South Sudan in 2011.

Related: FinTechs are redefining X-Border payments for African consumers, SMEs

FinTech solutions that allow people to access foreign exchange instruments and hold multiple currencies in a single digital wallet are an important weapon in Sudan’s fight against inflation.

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