Bankly, a Nigerian Fintech Company, Gets Fully Bought by C-One Ventures
A Nigerian financial technology company called Bankly, which also operates as a licensed microfinance bank, has been completely bought by another company named C-One Ventures. This is big news for Nigeria’s banking and technology sector.
Bankly helps people save money, make payments, and get small loans through digital methods. Many Nigerians who don’t use regular banks rely on services like Bankly. Now that C-One Ventures has bought Bankly, they will combine Bankly’s services with other similar companies they own to make their financial services stronger.
What This Purchase Means
When one company buys another, many things change. In this case:
C-One Ventures now owns all of Bankly’s permissions to operate as a microfinance bank.
Loading...The people who work at Bankly will now work as part of C-One Ventures’ group of companies.
They will connect Bankly’s systems with other financial services that C-One Ventures already provides.
There will be some changes in how Bankly is organized to fit better with its new owners.
The woman who started Bankly, Tomilola Majekodunmi, will stay for some time to help with the changes, but not as the main boss anymore. She will give advice during this transition period.
About C-One Ventures
C-One Ventures is a company that invests money in technology and finance businesses in Nigeria. They already own several other financial companies:
Fulcrum: Helps Nigerian businesses get money to pay their workers and suppliers
GetPayed: An app that makes payments and banking easier
Gomoney: A digital bank that works completely through a phone app
By adding Bankly to their collection, C-One Ventures becomes even stronger in providing technology-based financial services to both businesses and ordinary people across Nigeria.
Bankly’s Journey So Far
Bankly was started in 2018 by Tomilola Adejana and Fredrick Adams. At first, it worked like this: people could buy special cards (like phone recharge cards) from small shops across Nigeria and use them to save money digitally. This was helpful for people who didn’t have bank accounts.
Over time, Bankly grew and developed more services:
Digital savings accounts
Group savings (like traditional “ajo” or “esusu” but more secure)
Money transfers
Small loans
Bankly became especially popular among market traders, small business owners, and people in rural areas who couldn’t easily access regular banks. They built a network of over 50,000 agents across Nigeria and served more than 2 million customers.
Earlier this year (2024), Bankly received $2 million from investors, including the well-known payment company Flutterwave. This showed that big financial companies believed in what Bankly was doing.
Why This Matters for Nigeria
This purchase is important because:
It shows that Nigerian fintech companies are valuable and attractive to investors.
It will likely lead to better financial services for ordinary Nigerians, especially those without bank accounts.
Combining Bankly with other financial companies could create more powerful tools for saving and borrowing money.
It helps Nigeria move closer to the goal of “financial inclusion” – making sure everyone can use proper financial services.
The founder of Bankly said she’s proud of what they achieved in six years and believes this change will help their mission continue. While Bankly will now be part of a bigger company, its original purpose – helping Nigerians with their money needs – will remain the same, just with more support behind it.
This deal is one more step in Nigeria’s journey toward a fully digital financial system that works for everyone, not just those with traditional bank accounts. As more companies like C-One Ventures invest in fintech, we can expect to see more innovations that make banking easier and more accessible across the country.
