Herconomy secures £450,000 investment in bid to become ‘leading neobank for women’
Ellie Duncan | News
12 Jan 2022
Nigeria and UK-based Herconomy, a global organisation which connects women to a range of economic opportunities through an online platform, has secured £450,000 in new investment as it aims to become “the world’s leading neobank for women”.
The proceeds of this pre-seed round will fund recruitment, marketing and technology improvements to support Herconomy’s growth as it pivots to deliver financial services.
The organisation said this will include further development of UK partnerships to support women and the creation of closer business links between UK female-focused companies and the Nigerian business community.
A significant share of the investment came from the organisation’s UK-based committee members and business angels.
Launched as ACS Tribe in 2019 by Ife Durosinmi-Etti, the organisation recently rebranded to Herconomy and counts more than 1,500 UK members within its global community of over 15,000 entrepreneurs and professionals.
Ife Durosinmi-Etti, founder, Herconomy
Durosinmi-Etti said: “The round was completed in just 24 hours and significantly oversubscribed, with over £4 million worth of pledges. We’ve opted to only accept the initial £450,000 ($600,000), which is what we currently require to scale our platform.
“Many of our members either live in the UK or have close affiliations here. We are looking forward to further developing our presence throughout the UK, which includes welcoming more merchants to join our platform.”
She added: “We have ambitious plans and aim to become the world’s leading digital bank for women.
“We will achieve this by focusing on key markets, including the UK, to develop further partnerships with female-focused businesses and by expanding the range of products and services aimed at supporting women on our platform.”
Herconomy is focused on widening access to economic opportunities, training, jobs and capacity building for women, supporting its members by providing access to grants, loans, scholarships, employment and investment opportunities.
Main image source: Herconomy
