Sector:
Fintech
Country:
United Kingdom
/
Nigeria
Year
2025
Short Description
Prospa is a YC-backed fintech company transforming SME banking in Nigeria. Founded in 2019 and incorporated in Delaware, the company provides digital financial infrastructure for entrepreneurs and small businesses across Africa. Prospa’s mission is to empower millions of small business owners with modern banking, credit, and business-management tools designed for the realities of the African market.
Founders
Frederik Obasi
,
Co-founder & CEO
Chioma Ugo
,
Co-founder & Head of Growth
Why we invested
Prospa reflects our conviction that entrepreneurs scale faster when financial infrastructure actually supports them. By combining payments, credit, and control into one system, Prospa gives African SMEs the tools to operate and grow sustainably. Its builder-first approach and regional ambition closely match how we think about venture.
Founder Story
Frederik Obasi
,
Co-founder & CEO
Frederik grew up in southeast London in a Nigerian family where entrepreneurship was part of everyday life. His father built an import and export business that moved the family across countries and taught them that “a good name is better than gold”. Frederik watched his parents work hard to support not just their family but the community back home, seeing both the fragility and power that comes with building something of your own. That mix of opportunity, responsibility, and integrity shaped how he thought about work and family.
Over a decade ago, he moved to Nigeria to build companies. Some failed, but a media company eventually worked. The real turning point came not from success but from a broken experience with basic banking.
It took twelve months to open a bank account and receive $25,000 from an accelerator. By the time the money arrived, he had already borrowed from friends and family just to keep going, and the funding went straight back out to repay debts. The system moved too slowly for the realities of small businesses.
Prospa is his response to solve that. Frederik believes financial services in Africa should work at the pace and scale of everyday entrepreneurs, not against them. Prospa exists to help small and medium businesses manage their money, access funding, and run their operations so that one entrepreneur’s progress can support the community that depends on them.
Frederik grew up in southeast London in a Nigerian family where entrepreneurship was part of everyday life. His father built an import and export business that moved the family across countries and taught them that “a good name is better than gold”. Frederik watched his parents work hard to support not just their family but the community back home, seeing both the fragility and power that comes with building something of your own. That mix of opportunity, responsibility, and integrity shaped how he thought about work and family.
Over a decade ago, he moved to Nigeria to build companies. Some failed, but a media company eventually worked. The real turning point came not from success but from a broken experience with basic banking.
It took twelve months to open a bank account and receive $25,000 from an accelerator. By the time the money arrived, he had already borrowed from friends and family just to keep going, and the funding went straight back out to repay debts. The system moved too slowly for the realities of small businesses.
Prospa is his response to solve that. Frederik believes financial services in Africa should work at the pace and scale of everyday entrepreneurs, not against them. Prospa exists to help small and medium businesses manage their money, access funding, and run their operations so that one entrepreneur’s progress can support the community that depends on them.
Sector:
Fintech
Country:
United Kingdom
/
Nigeria
Year
2025
Short Description
Prospa is a YC-backed fintech company transforming SME banking in Nigeria. Founded in 2019 and incorporated in Delaware, the company provides digital financial infrastructure for entrepreneurs and small businesses across Africa. Prospa’s mission is to empower millions of small business owners with modern banking, credit, and business-management tools designed for the realities of the African market.
Founders
Frederik Obasi
,
Co-founder & CEO
Chioma Ugo
,
Co-founder & Head of Growth
Why we invested
Prospa reflects our conviction that entrepreneurs scale faster when financial infrastructure actually supports them. By combining payments, credit, and control into one system, Prospa gives African SMEs the tools to operate and grow sustainably. Its builder-first approach and regional ambition closely match how we think about venture.
Founder Story
Frederik Obasi
,
Co-founder & CEO
Frederik grew up in southeast London in a Nigerian family where entrepreneurship was part of everyday life. His father built an import and export business that moved the family across countries and taught them that “a good name is better than gold”. Frederik watched his parents work hard to support not just their family but the community back home, seeing both the fragility and power that comes with building something of your own. That mix of opportunity, responsibility, and integrity shaped how he thought about work and family.
Over a decade ago, he moved to Nigeria to build companies. Some failed, but a media company eventually worked. The real turning point came not from success but from a broken experience with basic banking.
It took twelve months to open a bank account and receive $25,000 from an accelerator. By the time the money arrived, he had already borrowed from friends and family just to keep going, and the funding went straight back out to repay debts. The system moved too slowly for the realities of small businesses.
Prospa is his response to solve that. Frederik believes financial services in Africa should work at the pace and scale of everyday entrepreneurs, not against them. Prospa exists to help small and medium businesses manage their money, access funding, and run their operations so that one entrepreneur’s progress can support the community that depends on them.
Frederik grew up in southeast London in a Nigerian family where entrepreneurship was part of everyday life. His father built an import and export business that moved the family across countries and taught them that “a good name is better than gold”. Frederik watched his parents work hard to support not just their family but the community back home, seeing both the fragility and power that comes with building something of your own. That mix of opportunity, responsibility, and integrity shaped how he thought about work and family.
Over a decade ago, he moved to Nigeria to build companies. Some failed, but a media company eventually worked. The real turning point came not from success but from a broken experience with basic banking.
It took twelve months to open a bank account and receive $25,000 from an accelerator. By the time the money arrived, he had already borrowed from friends and family just to keep going, and the funding went straight back out to repay debts. The system moved too slowly for the realities of small businesses.
Prospa is his response to solve that. Frederik believes financial services in Africa should work at the pace and scale of everyday entrepreneurs, not against them. Prospa exists to help small and medium businesses manage their money, access funding, and run their operations so that one entrepreneur’s progress can support the community that depends on them.