Abu Dhabi-based payments firm enza has secured US$6.75 million in a seed round co-led by Algebra Ventures and Quona Capital. It is the first time the company has raised external capital.

enza builds payment tools for banks and fintechs across Africa. These include cards, wallets and real-time payments, each shaped to suit the local market.

With the new capital, enza plans to grow in key African markets. It also aims to build closer ties with partners and respond faster to client needs.

The company says its tools lower the cost of digital payments. As a result, clients can serve more customers at a profit. Data from the platform then helps them sell other financial services.

Clients in several African countries already use enza to offer real-time payments, mobile money and BNPL. They also use it for domestic and international payment schemes.

Much of Africa remains underbanked, and enza says the continent has more than 60 million underserved SMEs. Its aim is to help banks and fintechs reach them.

Both investors pointed to the founders’ background in global and African payments. Quona Capital partner Johan Bosini said the firm is backing the team to widen access to digital payments.

“The enza leadership team have an impressive track record of starting, growing and exiting fintech businesses across the continent,”

said Tarek Assaad, Managing Partner at Algebra Ventures.

“We are thrilled to partner with Algebra Ventures and Quona Capital, who share our vision of the potential to transform financial services in Africa through the digitisation of payments,”

said Hany Fekry, CEO at enza.

Featured image: Edited by Fintech News UAE, based on image by enza via its LinkedIn and atlascompany via Magnific.