A new series from PNGME Subsaharan Africa and Ventures Keneoka for TechCrunch looks at how startups are changing business models to create successful and sustainable ventures. In the series, you’ll learn from founders and investors how to avoid common pitfalls and capitalize on opportunities.
Founders
Pngme is a machine learning-as-a-service platform that provides data infrastructure services to financial institutions. The company’s infrastructure has processed billions of data points from financial institutions. Combined with the data it collects, Pngme creates a holistic picture of financial behavior.
Pngme is currently working with unnamed tier-one banks in Nigeria and South Africa. It provides three core products to financial institutions. These include a lending platform, a customer management platform, and a collection of financial data.
The startup received a $3 million seed round six months ago. Now, the startup has raised a total of $15 million in Series A funding from Octopus Ventures, Two Small Fish Ventures, Aruwa Capital Management, Raptor Group, and Unshackled Ventures. This new round is a step in the right direction for the startup, says CEO Brendan Playford.
Pngme is also expanding its engineering and sales teams. To date, the firm has hired Nick Masson as the company’s chief technology officer, Lorraine Kageni Maina as its chief strategy officer, and Kyle Ellicott as its head of investor relations.
Investments
Pngme has recently raised $15 million in Series A funding. The company is a fintech start-up, serving banks and fintechs in sub-Saharan Africa. Its main product is a lending platform. To that end, the company has partnered with Kuda, Simplefi, Renmoney, Credpal, and other digital financial platforms.
The company is also planning to expand its data-infrastructure platform, as well as add more members to its team of data scientists and engineers. In addition to its impressive infrastructure, Pngme provides its clients with the tools to build enhanced credit reports. The team has already processed billions of data points from its clients. This includes user data, thin-file users, and credit-invisible customers. They’ve achieved a 21 percent reduction in loan defaults.
Pngme’s main goal is to deliver the most comprehensive and actionable data to financial institutions in the African market. By doing so, they aim to better understand and improve customer service. Their products enable financial institutions to collect data at scale, and offer tailored, personalized financial experiences.
Business model
The business model for PNGME Subsaharan Africa 15m series ventureskeneokafortechcrunch is pretty simple. It’s a data infrastructure platform that enables fintechs to aggregate and analyze financial data. They have three core products. These include an API, a mobile SDK, and a customer management platform. And while the company has not released specific numbers, they have found some traction with tier one banks in Nigeria and South Africa.
The company has also raised some pretty big checks from angel investors like Hayden Simmons of RallyCap and Richard Talbot, ex-COO of RBC Capital Markets. Pngme has also tapped into the sub-Saharan African market with a few partnerships, including Renmoney and Simplefi.
As Pngme repositions itself to provide a data infrastructure platform for other markets, the company has augmented its engineering and data science teams. The newest addition to the team is Nick Masson, formerly of WeWork, who will serve as the company’s new Chief Technology Officer. He will help drive the scaling of Pngme’s cutting-edge technology.
Key takeaways
Pngme’s proposition is to unify alternative financial data and collect it at scale. In other words, a bank can use Pngme to collect and process data from credit bureaus, financial institutions and other data providers. By doing this, the bank can create a more complete picture of its customers and develop tailored products. This is especially important in Africa, where most financial institutions are racing to offer fully personalized user experiences.
Pngme’s CEO, Brendan Playford, says that he sees his company’s platform as different from others on the market. He says that Pngme’s proposition has been finding traction with tier-one banks in Nigeria and South Africa. The startup, which is based in San Francisco, is trying to match WeChat’s playbook by offering a personalized experience. Its three core products include an API, a mobile SDK, and a customer management platform.
] Currently, Pngme’s infrastructure is processing billions of data points from various financial institutions. It will also expand its third-party data connections to other markets. As the startup grows, it will look to increase its sales and engineering teams.
