Sprint, the Ghanaian fintech has shuttered after a tumultuous run. The corporate didn’t obtain its imaginative and prescient to unravel cross border funds for Africans by connecting cell cash wallets.
Sprint, the Ghanaian fintech firm with a mission to attach cell cash wallets and financial institution accounts throughout Africa, has confirmed that it’s shutting down operations. The startup’s closure was first reported by WeeTracker
. Sprint was based in 2019 by Prince Boakye Boampong, and traders had been excited by the issue the startup needed to unravel. Sprint was working to make sure interoperability between cell cash wallets and financial institution accounts throughout Africa; its answer would have made sending cash throughout Africa simple and environment friendly.
The startup raised $86.1 million in 5 years and attracted big-name traders. It raised $32.8 million in a seed spherical—the second largest seed spherical for an African startup—in 2021. Perception Companions led the spherical and different traders, like International Founders Capital, 4DX Ventures and ASK Capital, participated. It went on to boost extra funding with convertible notes and debt financing from October 2021 to 2022.
In 2021, Sprint started sharing eye-popping development numbers. Per one publication, Sprint claimed to have processed transactions value $1 billion and stated it had acquired 1,000,000 customers from Ghana, Nigeria and Kenya. These numbers represented a 5x improve in its customers in solely 5 months.
In February, a minimum of two publications reported suspicions about Sprint’s person numbers and metrics, and later that very same month, Prince Boakye Boampong was suspended as CEO. Inner audits of Sprint’s numbers proved that Boampong misrepresented and exaggerated person numbers. He was finally fired and changed by Kenneth Kinshua.
New reporting means that the injury was already performed by the point Kenneth Kinshua grew to become CEO. The publication claimed that upon one other audit of the corporate’s account, there was a shortfall of a minimum of $25 million that was unaccounted for. With a reported burn charge of $500,000 per thirty days and no income, Sprint’s main drawback seemed to be its excessive overhead, because it had operations throughout 5 nations.
As reported by WeeTracker, Boampong was incomes $50,000 per thirty days and allegedly diverted a minimum of $8 million. There are claims that the cash was used to purchase property and luxurious vehicles. Boampong has not spoken publicly about any of the allegations.