by DION HENRICK in Cape Town
Western Cape Bureau
CAPE TOWN, (CAJ News) – INDEPENDENT buy-now-pay-later (BNPL) provider, Happy Pay, has raised US$1,8 million (about R31.5 million) pre-seed round, and secured inaugural debt facility, as it accelerates a mission of bringing the cost of consumer credit to zero for South Africans.
The funding round was led by a group of prominent South African venture capital investors, including co-lead investors E4E Africa and 4Di Capital, with participation from DotExe Ventures, Launch Africa, Equitable Ventures, Felix Strategic Investment, United States-based Gaingels and local angels.
In addition, Fin Africa, formerly Finclusion Group, is providing Happy Pay’s debt facility.
The Happy Pay platform leverages the latest advancements in autonomous artificial intelligence-driven credit scoring to calculate customer affordability in seconds.
Experts say this reduces costs and inefficiencies while ensuring a frictionless checkout experience for consumers and merchants alike.
“We’re excited to have the backing of such a remarkable group of investors,” said Wesley Billett, co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer Officer at Happy Pay.
“This funding will enable us to accelerate our growth and expand our innovative product offerings, ultimately providing more value to the customers and merchants that we serve,” Billett stated.
Launched in 2023, Happy Pay reports experiencing rapid growth over the past year, attracting a 900-percent increase in user growth.
The company attributes this growth to Millennials and Gen Zs who favour BNPL options over traditional credit cards.
Bas Hochstenbach, partner at E4E Africa, believes Happy Pay’s innovative approach to financial inclusion via their BNPL-led consumer payments platform can bring more South African consumers into the formal financial sector.
“We are excited to be a part of this journey and look forward to seeing the company grow within South Africa and beyond,” Hochstenbach said.
Anton van Vlaanderen, partner at 4Di Capital, said the Happy Pay team had consistently delivered strong growth and leveraged the power of AI and data to drive meaningful financial inclusion for South African consumers, along with tangible economic benefits for merchants.
“We are excited about the various future initiatives at Happy Pay that will result in further scale-up growth in the months ahead,” van Vlaanderen said.
– CAJ News