Nigerian startup Bamboo, a brokerage app that lets Africans buy and trade US stocks in real-time, has raised a US$15 million Series A funding round to accelerate its growth, move into new markets and launch more products.

Launched in January 2020, Bamboo is an investment platform that unlocks global markets for Africans by providing real-time access to dollar-denominated assets via its platform. Users can fund with their dollar or local currency balance almost instantly and start investing in stocks.

So far, Bamboo has gained over 300,000 accounts in Nigeria. Meanwhile, an API solution allows asset managers, fintech companies and other consumer-facing platforms and financial institutions to integrate Bamboo’s API and to offer their users global access.

The US$15 million Series A round was led by Greycroft and Tiger Global with participation from Motley Fool Ventures, Saison Capital,  Chrysalis Capital and Y-Combinator’s Michael Seibel, amongst others.

With the capital, Bamboo plans to further accelerate its growth, doubling down on unlocking new markets and launching more products. Since Bamboo announced plans to launch in Ghana in April 2021, more than 50,000 Ghanaians have joined the waitlist.

“Our goal is simple: we want to give Africans and their asset managers easy, fast and secure access to global investment options that will allow them to earn real returns. We’re building the technology infrastructure powering financial services in Africa such that if you’re investing in the global capital markets from Africa, you’ll be doing so using Bamboo, directly or indirectly,” said Richmond Bassey, Bamboo’s CEO and co-founder.

“We also want to make it seamless for African investors in the diaspora to discover the best investing opportunities on the continent. We’re excited about our work with local regulators so far to make this a reality.”

Greycroft partner Alison Lange Engel said she was “thrilled” to support the innovative, user-first approach the Bamboo team is bringing to market.

“Bamboo is enabling Africans to build wealth by creating an investing platform that is helpful to both experienced investors and to those new to the stock market,” she said.