Chipper Cash, the Africa-focused fintech company that was backed by Silicon Valley Bank and cryptocurrency exchange FTX, is weighing options including exploring a sale or seeking new investors, people familiar with the matter said.
(Bloomberg) — Chipper Cash, the Africa-focused fintech company that was backed by Silicon Valley Bank and cryptocurrency exchange FTX, is weighing options including exploring a sale or seeking new investors, people familiar with the matter said.
The company began considering the options before SVB’s collapse last week, the people said, asking not to be identified because the discussions are private. No final decisions have been made and the company may decide against either one, they said.
“It’s been fairly common practice for us to receive various M&A proposals from different parties, which we evaluate to varying degrees,” the company said in response to questions. “That being said, we have never sought to be acquired.”
Chipper Cash raised $250 million in 2021 in a round led by SVB and the now-defunct FTX that valued the firm at about $2 billion at the time, according to TechCrunch. SVB owns an approximately 2% stake in the San Francisco-based company.
Chipper Cash is also an SVB banking client. African tech companies are heavily dependent on US capital, and SVB provided many of them banking services that could be hard to immediately replace.
Global customer operations won’t be impacted by SVB’s collapse and Chipper Cash has a broad set of investors who are supportive of its long-term vision for the business, the company said Sunday, adding it has multiple banking relationships in the US.
“While this is a very worrying time for so many tech firms, the impact of SVB’s collapse on Chipper is insignificant,” the company said in a statement. US federal banking officials have announced that SVB’s deposits would be fully insured.
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