Pezesha, a Kenyan fintech startup that is building scalable lending infrastructure for SMEs and institutions, has closed a seven-figure seed extension funding round as it seeks to grow across Africa.
GreenHouse Capital led the deal, which also included on-lending liquidity support from Venture Garden Group, GreenHouse Capital’s sister firm. Pezesha’s continuous expansion across Africa and objective to promote access to cheap working finance for SMEs will be aided by the cash, which follows previous seed investments from Consonance in 2018 and Seedstars last year.
“We are delighted to have GreenHouse Capital join the Pezesha family. We are aligned in vision as well as our commitment to solving the working capital challenges that are preventing African SMEs from achieving their full growth potential,” said Hilda Moraa, founder and chief executive officer (CEO) of Pezesha.
“GreenHouse Capital’s investment will catapult our growth by enabling us to scale our existing partnerships with the likes of Twiga Foods, Jumia, Marketforce, and Popote Pay, among others. More so, the investment will unlock our vision of building the operating system to power embedded finance in Africa.”
Why The Investor Invested
Pezesha is breaking down barriers to SME finance by taking an ecosystem approach to the problem of access to capital, according to Ruby Nimkar, principal of GreenHouse Capital.
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“Their embedded finance model is truly groundbreaking, and we have full confidence in Hilda and the talented team at Pezesha to take their model into new markets and continuously close the SME financing gap across Africa,” she said.
A Look At What The Startup Does
Pezesha, which began operations in late 2016, has built a comprehensive digital financial infrastructure that connects small and medium-sized businesses to working capital provided by banks, microfinance institutions, and other financial institutions or networks.
The Capital Markets Authority (CMA) granted the startup regulatory license, and it also became the first Kenyan business to successfully depart the CMA sandbox with a letter of no objection to operate in Kenya. Pezesha, which is already functioning in Kenya, Ghana, and Nigeria, will start in Uganda later this month and hopes to expand after funding a seed extension amount.
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Charles Rapulu Udoh
Charles Rapulu Udoh is a Lagos-based lawyer who has advised startups across Africa on issues such as startup funding (Venture Capital, Debt financing, private equity, angel investing etc), taxation, strategies, etc. He also has special focus on the protection of business or brands’ intellectual property rights ( such as trademark, patent or design) across Africa and other foreign jurisdictions.
He is well versed on issues of ESG (sustainability), media and entertainment law, corporate finance and governance.
He is also an award-winning writer