Mono
“Can a single API become the open banking and identity layer for every African fintech?”
Founded2020
HQLagos, Nigeria
Total raised$17.65M
Latest roundSeries A, 2021
IndustryInfrastructure / Open banking
The story
Founded 2020 as Africa's answer to Plaid — an open banking API connecting bank accounts to fintech apps. Expanded from financial data aggregation into payments (DirectPay, DirectDebit, Global Standing Mandate) and identity verification (Lookup, Prove), positioning as a full open finance infrastructure platform for Nigerian and broader African fintechs.
Product timeline
2020
Mono founded in Lagos to build open banking infrastructure for Africa.· pivot
2021
Raised $15M Series A led by Tiger Global.· banking
2022
Partnered with Flutterwave to power Pay with Bank checkout option.· banking
2023
Expanded coverage and added regulatory compliance offerings.· banking
2024
Launched Mono Prove for identity verification and customer onboarding.· banking
Regulated entities
Data Processor Registration
Kenya
Mono
The stack
Payments / PSP
Mono DirectPay (self-operated)Mono DirectDebit (self-operated)Mono Global Standing Mandate (self-operated)
Open banking
FX & payouts
Accounting gap: minor