MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Oradian Raises Seed Funding to Scale its Instafin Banking Software Platform Across West Africa

Oradian, a Croatian startup that provides cloud-based software for microfinance institutions in developing economies, announced recently that it has raised seed funding from various investors to scale its products across West Africa, an effort that will include expanding its team in its offices in Croatia and Nigeria. The investors include Prague-based Credo Ventures, Budapest-based Day One Capital and the London-based Playfair Capital, along with individuals such as Esther Dyson, a founding member of Space Angels Network; Moaffak Ahmed; and Pule Taukobong, the founder of Africa Angels Network. The amount of new funding has not been disclosed.

Instafin, the startup’s main product, is a software platform designed to help microfinance institutions manage their core banking activities. CEO Antonio Separovic said, “Managers of banks take decisions based on the information they have available. Because of poor software and understanding of software management [they] have poor data or it costs them a huge amount of time and money, fundamentally limiting their ability to manage their bank. We solve this problem.” The company’s current customers are microfinance providers, primarily in Nigeria. The company charges its customers based on the number of clients the customers service annually [1].

Founded in 2011, Oradian obtained its initial funding from friends and family. Additionally, the Croatian government agency supporting small and medium-sized enterprises provided the company with a loan guarantee of EUR 200,000 (approximately USD 220,000) [2]. The company also won a prize of EUR 50,000 (approximately USD 55,000) at the Pioneers Challenge 2014, a pitching competition for tech startups held in Vienna, Austria [3].

By Arpita Sarkar

About Oradian:

Oradian was founded in 2011 in Zagreb, Croatia, by Antonio Separovic and co-founders Andrew Mainhart, Julian Oehrlein and Onyeka Adibeli, all of whom already had a background in the microfinance sector in developing countries. The company provides software-as-a-service solutions to microfinance institutions, with Instafin, a core banking platform, as its flagship product. The company’s other products include the Oradian Ecosystem, a technology platform that allows financial institutions to tailor features of the software to their specific needs. Apart from raising its initial funding from friends and family, the Croatian government agency supporting small and medium-sized enterprises also provided the company with a loan guarantee of EUR 200,000 (approximately USD 220,000).

Sources and Additional Resources:

[1] VatorNews: “Microfinance system provider Oradian raises seed round,” http://vator.tv/news/2015-05-20-microfinance-system-provider-oradian-raises-seed-round#TKfDITg489oJjdAA.99

[2] Tech.eu: “Oradian banks on the ‘bottom 3 billion’,” http://tech.eu/features/397/oradian/

[3] Netocracija: “Croatian Oradian Won The Pioneers Challenge. What’s Next?,” http://www.netocratic.com/oradian-pioneers-challenge-julian-oehrlein-88961

MicroCapital Universe Profile: Oradian, https://www.microcapital.org/microfinanceuniverse/tiki-index.php?page=Oradian

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