Inov8 Limited, the region's fastest growing mobile payments company, has secured Series A funding of $5.4 million and achieved a valuation in excess of $100 million. Inov8 is the dominant player in the Pakistan market, and is now expanding to Africa and the Middle East with its award winning products and services.
Sheikh NahayanMabarak Al Nahayan is the sole investor in this Series A round. On the occasion of the announcement, he said, "I have invested in multiple mobile payments and commerce initiatives, and I find the depth of the management, the product platform, and the vision of the founders to be the best I have come across. I look forward to being an integral part of their success story." Addressing a press conference here on Thursday, Hasnain A Sheikh, Chairman, CEO and Co-Founder, said, "Inov8 is looking to scale and grow it's world class team to be the number one mobile payments company in the world by 2020. This round of funding is testament to the massive upsurge in the demand for Inov8 products and services across the region, which has been phenomenal over the last 18 months."
Bashir Sheikh, Co-Founder and President, added "We will be utilising our funds for our growth across the Middle East and Africa region with an expectation to raise a much larger Series B round in the near future. We will be looking to grow organically and via acquisition, for businesses, products and teams." It is interesting to note that while Inov8's headquarters have moved to the UAE, with a presence in the UK, this funding and post money valuation should help pave the way for investment in to the burgeoning Pakistan technology industry. Talking to Business Recorder, Founders of Inov8 Hasnain and Bashir said Federal and Punjab governments were their clients. Inov8 distributed $50 million among one hundred thousand IDPs families in Fata through mobile payments.