Seamfix Raises $4.5 Million in Debut Funding Round to Drive Expansion Across African Markets

Seamfix, a leading identity solutions firm, has secured a significant $4.5 million investment from Alitheia IDF, marking its first institutional funding milestone. The strategic backing of capital is poised to propel Seamfix's expansion beyond Nigeria's borders and into other African markets.

Chimezie Emewulu, Co-founder and CEO of Seamfix, shed light on the rationale behind pursuing this funding. He pointed out that the company's revenue growth, when denominated in dollars, has been adversely affected by the volatility of the Nigerian naira. The currency's pronounced devaluation, particularly during the Tinubu administration, has eroded the dollar value of the company's earnings. "While our naira revenues show positive growth year over year, our dollar earnings are regressing," Emewulu remarked.

In response to this challenge and to bolster foreign exchange earnings, Seamfix has strategically opted to venture into more stable African economies, with plans underway to establish a foothold in Ghana, Kenya, and South Africa.

Specializing in digital identity creation and verification systems for large corporations and governmental entities across Africa, Seamfix also provides transaction authentication solutions to its clientele. With existing operations in Uganda, Côte d’Ivoire, and Ethiopia, the company leverages its partnership with the MTN group to extend its identity solutions to regions where the telecommunications giant operates.

The issue of digital identity remains pressing in Africa, where an estimated 542 million people lack formal identity documentation. Bridging this identity gap holds immense potential, with projections suggesting it could bolster GDP growth by up to 7%, albeit requiring an estimated $6 billion investment.

Over its illustrious history, Seamfix has pioneered identity management solutions for a diverse array of clients, including Nigeria's National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), telecom giants like MTN, Glo, and Airtel, and financial institutions such as United Bank for Africa, Interswitch, and Union Bank. Its collaboration with NIMC has been pivotal in facilitating over 100 million Nigerians in obtaining national identification numbers, while also aiding telecom operators in registering 200 million customers in accordance with regulatory mandates.

Seamfix generates revenue through several streams: selling its identity solution to organizations, charging for identity verifications, offering annual licenses to access its identity database, and billing for API calls. Emewulu revealed to TechCabal that the company has processed over 500 million identities to date.

The inception of Seamfix can be traced back to the partnership between Chimezie Emewulu and Chibuzor Onwurah, former classmates with a shared vision to ‘seamlessly fix’ technological challenges. Initially, Seamfix focused on creating custom products that digitized organizational workflows but pivoted to concentrate on identity management solutions in 2015.

This pivot was inspired by a client project that involved developing an online exam-taking system for university students. The project highlighted the identity verification issue when cases of student impersonation were discovered. To combat this, Seamfix implemented a biometric system that captured photos and fingerprints, ensuring that any repeat appearances by the same individual could be detected and verified. The success of this identity verification solution led to a partnership with 9 Mobile for customer registration.