Accenture (NYSE: ACN) has made an investment, through Accenture Ventures, in Lagos, Nigeria-based fintech company Okra.
The amount of the deal was not disclosed.
Founded in 2019 by David Peterside and Fara Ashiru Jituboh, Okra is an open finance infrastructure platform that enables developers and businesses to build personalized digital services and fintech products for customers. The company is serving the African financial services market.
Following its launch, the startup received early attention, securing $1 million in pre-seed funding from TLcom Capital.
The investment in Okra was made through Accenture Ventures’ Project Spotlight — an engagement and investment program aimed at connecting emerging technology startups with the Global 2000 to fill strategic innovation gaps. Okra will also have access to Accenture’s global innovation network, and the opportunity to co-innovate with Accenture software engineers, system architects and payments experts.
Born in Nigeria and a software engineer by the age of 11, Jituboh grew up in the U.S. and went on to study computer science and software engineering at North Carolina A&T State University (an HBCU), and then held positions at JP Morgan Chase and Fidelity Investments as well as a few start-ups before co-founding Okra with David Peterside, the company’s chief operating officer.
FinSMEs
24/04/2021