Overview: Today, we’re going to explore Carbon, the credit-led Neobank. We’ll discuss the Carbon story across the following areas:
African lending & consumer credit
Carbon's founding & early history
Product & monetization strategy
Competitive positioning & potential exit options
Overall outlook
This episode was recorded on Oct 15, 2023
Companies discussed: Carbon (PayLater, One Credit, OneFi, One Finance), Diamond Bank, Cafe Neo, Kaizen Venture Partners, FairMoney, Branch, Paga, Kuda Bank, GTBank, Access Bank, Chipper Cash, NuBank, Lesaka (NET1 UEPS), Lendable, Interswitch, Visa, RenMoney, Tala & Safaricom (M-Pesa)
Business concepts discussed: Smartphone credit assessment, consumer lending, unbanked population, Neobank strategy, Personal Finance OS & Buy Now Pay Later
Conversation highlights:
(00:48) - Carbon context
(08:15) - Consumer lending in Africa and Neobanks
(15:32) - Background on African banking and Neobanks
(32:02) - Founding story of Carbon & Founders’ background
(54:04) - Fundraising
(1:01:15) - Growth and Geographical Expansion
(1:08:03) - Acquisitions and investments
(1:15:54) - Team and organisation
(1:19:35) - Key metrics
(1:40:46) - Product strategy and monetization
(2:00:08) - Competition and options for exit
(2:10:33 - Olumide’s overall thoughts and outlook
(2:20:38) - Bankole’s overall thoughts and outlook
(2:30:15) - Recommendation and small wins
Olumide’s recommendations & small wins:
Interested in investing in Africa Tech with Olumide: Read about Adamantium fund & contact me at olumide@afrobility.com. Founders looking for funding: If you're a B2B founder working on Education, Health, Finance or food, please contact me for funding at olumide@afrobility.com
Checkout my FIREDOM book = FIRE (Financial Independence, Retire Early) + Freedom = personal finance and financial independence book. Website, Read: Substack Newsletter & Buy: Print, eBook or Audiobook)
Recommendation: Lil Kesh - Shoki Remix. Song is beyond nice. I probably understand 15% of it. Lil Kesh was 19 years old when the song was released. The power of young people to Incredible things. Wow!
Recommendation: Lil Kesh - Don't Call Me (feat. Zinoleesky) [Lyrics Visualiser].
Recommendation: Ruger - Ruger. The song literally starts with “Man, I spit fire…”. How can I not love it?
Small win: Switched to Instacart (from Amazon Fresh) for groceries. Not going back
Bankole’s recommendations & small wins:
Recommendation: Fair Isaac Company on Business Breakdowns, MTN on Business Breakdowns
Small win: New phone
Other content: Building Magic - The Cafe Neo story & Chipper Cash AI Day
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Founders & Operators: We'd love to hear about what you're working on, email us at info@afrobility.com
Investors: It would be great to link up with you. Contact us at info@afrobility.com
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