ThankUCash Snags $5.3M for Cash Back, Deals and BNPL Services in Nigeria

ThankUCash has closed its fundraising seed round by raising $5.3 million to build a platform to bring Nigerian customers loyalty programs, deals and rewards services, according to a TechCrunch report Monday (Jan. 10).

Venture capital firms 500 Global and Unicorn Growth Capital led the seed round for ThankUCash, which also saw participation from U.S.-based accelerator Expert Dojo, Predictive VC, SaaS Growth Ventures, Betatron Venture Group and Accelerex Holdings.

Andrew Dell, former CEO of HSBC Africa, and Craig Fenton of Google U.K. also invested in the company.

ThankUCash plans to use the fresh capital to expand within Nigeria — where it operates in Lagos, Port Harcourt and Abuja — and to Ghana and Kenya. It also plans to enhance its suite of products and add more employees with the investment dollars.

CEO Simeon Ononobi started ThankUCash with chief technical officer Suraj Supekar, chief operating officer Madonna Ononobi and senior vice president of engineering Harshal Gandole.

ThankUCash’s multi-merchant rewards platform, where customers can bounce from one merchant to another to earn loyalty points, allows customers to earn rewards from thousands of merchants in the app. The company raised a $320,000 ahead of its seed round.

ThankUCash has more than 600,000 users and onboarded more than 1,000 stores on its platform. The company says it’s processed more than $80 million in transaction volume.

Related: Nigerian Mobility Tech Startup Metro Africa Xpress Nets $31M for Expansion

In December, Nigerian mobility tech startup Metro Africa Express (MAX) raised $31 million in a Series B fundraising round as it looks to enter more African markets in the transportation sector.

MAX will use the money to extend vehicle financing credit to more than 100,000 drivers in the next two years. The company also plans to expand into Ghana and Egypt by early this year and into Francophone, East and Southern Africa by the end of 2022.

The company got its start as a delivery startup in 2015 and used motorcycles to complete orders, before later becoming a ride-hailing, vehicle subscription and financing service.