Pivo, a Nigerian logistics company, has received an investment of $2 million from the Africa-focused venture capital firm Breakout Ventures to power up their digital bank and help them with their expansion into Kenya. The company is targeting African consumers because in Nigeria for example, retail revenues are expected to reach $100 billion by 2020.
It’s been estimated that Africans have over $10 trillion worth of financial assets hidden away in traditional savings accounts or even under mattresses. That’s why both Pivo and its investors are aiming to create a revolutionary platform for digital transactions for Africa that will enable individuals and businesses to access these assets easily through a digital bank account.
Pivo has already been operating for two years and is based in Lagos, Nigeria with a distribution network that reaches all major parts of the country and also neighboring regions such as Ghana. They are now using a mobile phone application to track their fleet of over 1,400 trucks which delivers goods to 30,000 stores.
Pivo recently raised $2 million from Breakout Ventures to create a digital bank that’s going to be used by their own logistics company but also be available as a white label solution for other companies. Through the digital bank services provided by Pivo’s infrastructure, other companies will be able to distribute money faster and provide customers with better ROI on their investments.
An interesting aspect of Pivo’s current solution is that it allows customers to pay for their goods using different currencies. If a customer wants to use AYI, CPF or Naira in addition to the Euro, Dollar, Pound or Dinar that’s used as a base unit for value transfers for example, then he/she can still do so. So even though the digital currency payments should be processed in real-time, Pivo users will still have access to their money 24/7 thanks to their digital bank.
Pivo’s CEO and co-founder, Abidemi Babalola, has stated that the investment in the digital bank will be used to create a white label solution for other companies. These companies can then provide their customers with digital bank accounts that are connected to Pivo’s infrastructure.
Another interesting thing about Pivo is that they will allow customers to make savings deposits in any currency they want as well as transfer money to other people or businesses without any fees attached. So unlike many cryptocurrency enthusiasts who believe price volatility is one of its biggest issues, this benefits the African market since payment using cryptocurrencies doesn’t carry any risk of exchange rates.
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