In Africa, access to affordable loans is mainly the daily challenge faced by small businesses. In recent years, fundraising has emerged as one of the main sources for them to access the required capital and expand their businesses.

Scalable digital lending platform Pezesha announced on Tuesday, August 30, that it has secured US$11 million in pre-series A investment.

“We are excited about attracting institutional investors led by the Women’s World Banking Capital Partners II to harness our growth plans and push our mission to the next level. We are equally excited that WWBCP II intentionally invests in women, which allows us to cement inclusivity in our growth plans as a sustainable path towards our vision of building Africa’s MSME lending infrastructure,”  said Pezesha founder, Hilda Moraa.

Pezesha was founded in 2017, in Kenya. It connects SMEs and financial institutions, helping the former raise working capital. Doing so “encourages meaningful financial inclusion and reduces inequality in access to formal financial services.”  Pezesha also provides financial education and debt counseling to MSMEs to help them improve their credit score and have responsible borrowing habits as they move up the Pezesha financial ladder. 

The additional capital, consisting of $6 million in equity and $5 million in loans, will enable it to expand its operations in its core East African markets and explore opportunities in new Sub-Saharan African markets.

The fintech claims to have more than 200,000 partners to date and over 100,000 loans made to MSMEs in Kenya, Uganda, and Ghana.

Samira Njoya