This week, something incredible happened.
At the 2025 Cascador Pitch Day, Sycamore was awarded ₦1.5 billion in catalytic funding; a huge leap forward for our mission to make simple, honest financial tools accessible to everyday people and businesses across the globe.
The event, hosted annually by Cascador Nigeria, marked the close of their accelerator program for mid-stage founders. Nine stellar companies; including us, were awarded a combined $3 million+ in funding, in partnership with Sterling Bank. It wasn’t a one-size-fits-all cheque. Instead, it was a mix of debt and equity tailored to the context we’re building in.
For us, this is more than capital. It’s fuel to go even harder on what we’ve believed since day one: that African businesses and individuals deserve tools that work and work well.
The Journey Wasn’t Always Smooth
Our founder and CEO, Babatunde Akin-Moses, first applied to Cascador in 2020, nudged by Sycamore’s very first customer. He didn’t get in.
But he didn’t back off either.
Encouraged again in 2021, this time by friends and customers who saw what we were building, he reapplied and got in. That decision changed everything.
“I think the biggest learning for me,” Tunde said, “is that Cascador really proves what they say about seeking value first and money can follow eventually. Since that first time I applied, there was no talk of funding for years. But we stayed in touch. I kept learning from them, they kept getting value from me. And now, money has come in. It’s true what the Holy book says: Seek ye first the kingdom; in this context, that means value, and all other things will be added. That’s what happened.”
The program helped sharpen our leadership, refine our business model, and gave us access to a strong community of mentors and entrepreneurs who challenge and inspire us to this day.
Why This Funding Really Matters
Building a company in Africa is not for the faint at heart. Our continent is rich with opportunity; but often poor in infrastructure, access to capital, and institutional support. Especially for companies like Sycamore: beyond the early days, profitable, but not yet at unicorn status.
That’s where Cascador’s fund stands out.
It’s designed specifically for businesses like ours: revenue-generating, mission-driven, ready to grow but often overlooked by traditional VCs. Their structure allows room for nuance. It’s not “equity or nothing.” It’s debt, equity, and other forms of capital designed to match the realities of African businesses.
“This funding gives us capital to do more, which is very important,” Tunde shared. “But more importantly, it gave us a platform to tell our story to a much larger audience. That visibility with investors, with the ecosystem puts us in a more liquid position. And because a commercial bank like Sterling was involved in selecting the recipients, the credibility that comes with that validation just sets us up for even bigger opportunities.”
For us, it’s not just capital. It’s momentum. It’s leverage. Both financial and non-financial.
What We’re Building Next
We started Sycamore in a small bedroom with one question:
Why is it so hard for Nigerians to access fair, fast financial services?
Since then, we’ve disbursed ₦22 billion+ in loans, built a team of over 100 people, and created tools that help people save, grow, and invest. From daily wallet interest, to short-term investment products like commercial papers, we’re constantly asking how finance can be simpler, more transparent, and more useful.
Now, with the support of this ₦1.5 billion fund, we’re doubling down:
- Expanding our loan support for small businesses
- Refining our savings products to align with people’s real-world income patterns
- Scaling investment access so that everyday people can build wealth without gatekeeping
Our commercial paper product is a great example: once reserved for big institutions, we’ve opened it up to the average Nigerian, with as little as ₦100,000. And with our wallets, customers earn interest daily, even if they withdraw mid-month. These features exist because real people asked for them and we listened.
A Quiet Signal to the Ecosystem
In Africa’s tech scene, the loudest wins often get the most attention; massive rounds, sky-high valuations, unicorn statuses. But at Sycamore, we’ve always been about something else: quiet growth. Real value. Long-term trust.
We’ve built steadily. Deliberately. Without shortcuts.
This win is proof that this approach works.
“This win also reminds me how far we’ve come,” Tunde reflected. “And honestly, I’m just really grateful. Grateful to God for bringing us here.”
Gratitude
We’re thankful to the Cascador team for building a program that prioritizes substance. To Sterling Bank, for backing businesses the ecosystem often overlooks. And to our fellow awardees; who, like us, are showing what it looks like to build solutions for real people.
But mostly, we’re thankful for our own people.
“To every Sytizen; co-founders, board, and team – I am so deeply grateful,” said Tunde. “A lot of times, when I pitch, it’s my face that gets seen. But nothing we’ve done would be possible without everyone playing their part, and doing it excellently. I’m very grateful.”
This ₦1.5 billion isn’t a finish line. It’s a launchpad. It gives us more power to build, more confidence to grow, and more clarity to serve.
Because our mission remains the same: to make everyday finance more accessible, more human, and more useful for everyone.
