Startup Spotlight: the success story of Chipper Cash
We love seeing startups thrive, even more so when we’re part of the journey. Our client’s creativity and innovation are contagious and inspire us to be the best version of ourselves every day.
At Advisori Finance, we are passionate about helping startups go from seed to series C, and beyond! We’re a one stop shop for everything finance and accounting related. With everything under one roof, you can have a piece of mind knowing it’s all getting taken care of.
One of our long term clients, Chipper Cash, is a fintech company headquartered in San Francisco and has 9 subsidiaries across Africa and Europe. Here’s a quick breakdown:
Chipper Cash is a fintech platform that offers cross-border money transfer services through mobile.
Website: chippercash.com
Feb 2017: founded
May 2019: seed round $2.4M
Dec 2019: series A $6M
Jun 2020: series A $13.8M
We first met Chipper Cash founder, Ham Serunjogi via a referral. One early San Francisco morning, Ham reached out in need of a financial package for an investor. That’s where our partnership blossomed into a series of successful projects.
1. prepare a financial package
As an early startup, you need to have a clean monthly record of revenue and expenses recorded in an accounting software. That’s where we started with Chipper Cash. We scheduled a consultation call with Ham to lay the foundation of the initial project.
Although we had less than a day to put over one year of financial data together from scratch, our team pulled through. This work was crucial and sometimes we like a good challenge.
We quickly assembled a team of finance experts with an outline of the project. With our domain knowledge and familiarity with the accounting software, we worked around the clock to complete the project on time.
That was the first time we worked with Ham. Soon after, he got his seed funding.
2. ongoing monthly accounting with VP of Finance
A month later, Ham emailed us and introduced his new VP of finance. Then we started working together regularly as their outsourced finance and accounting department.
From monthly accounting close, preparing financial reporting packages, tax planning to advisory service, we supported every single task so Ham and his team could grow fast.
3. Consulting and tax research on regulations in Africa
Ham’s startup grew so fast that they opened 9 subsidiaries across Africa and Europe in a year. They needed to understand local tax liabilities in each country so they could plan ahead.
Then we began consulting. We researched tax regulations and started planning for international growth. Our tax CPAs put together a thorough management report on each country’s tax regulations and started tax planning early.
Startups can avoid so much friction by tax planning early and nailing down the inter-company transfer pricing process. So that’s what we did for Chipper Cash.
4. Tax Audit
While our CPAs were heads down working on the research project, we received another request from Ham and his team. “We have opened an office in the UK and needed the audited financial statements to apply for a license.” Ham never fails to amaze us with his ability to grow his startup. For this audit project, we assigned CPAs who specialize in auditing to help review and sign financial statements. With financial statements reviewed and signed by our CPAs, Ham’s UK division successfully got licensed. Now they can legally operate in the UK. Another great milestone!
5. Raise series A funding
After 1.5 years of hard work, Ham’s startup was ready to raise series A funding. To increase the chance of getting the series A funding, we wanted to use financials that could best represent their fast growth. Since we know Ham’s startup well (better than any others), we know which financials can add that WOW factor.
Not long after, Chipper cash raised $14M series A funding. This was a proud moment for all of us.
6. Continuing to offer support
Chipper cash continues to grow and expand. We here at Advisori Finance, continue to provide finance and accounting support. On top of that, we also offer training to their new staff. Nothing makes our work more meaningful than knowing that our clients are succeeding!
Conclusion:
There are many great startup stories like Ham’s that we are proud to be part of. We’re fortunate to be part of startups’ journey and work with so many talented founders. It’s why we do what we do.
