Asimilia, a Kenyan fintech startup, has raised $2 million in pre-seed funding ($1 million in equity and $1 million in debt). The company is gearing up for its next phase of growth, which will include extending loans to traders, providing more relief to a segment of the population that is frequently overlooked and regarded as high risk by traditional banking.
The money came from a variety of sources, including Fredrik Jung Abbou, a two-time unicorn founder and Norrsken Impact Accelerator, as well as the French Public Investment Bank (Bpifrance) and GreenTec Capital Partners, who participated in the debt round.
Asilimia plans to utilize the funds to acquire people as it refines its technology and expands into another East African region. Based on data from its Leja app, it would also issue loans to micro, small, and medium-sized firms (MSMEs).
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“We have entered a phase where we are exploring ways in which we can extend the much-needed credit enabling traders to buy equipment or products to sustain their enterprises,” Asilimia co-founder and CEO Tekwane Mwendwa said.
Why The Investors Invested
Asimilia has generated considerable traction since it was founded. Its apps are used by roughly 27,000 people, and the total amount of money transacted through the Leja app is around $20 million. Mwendwa claims that a typical user conducts three transactions each day through the app, and that the firm is growing at a rate of 30% per week.
“MSMEs play a vital role across Africa and making it easier for them to succeed is great for the continent as a whole,” said Norrsken Impact Accelerator co-founder and managing director Funda Sezgi.
“Tekwane and the team have built a solution that works and we are delighted to be supporting them as they drive prosperity in a key sector for the African economy.”
The company has already completed the acclaimed Station F incubation program in Paris as well as the Norrsken Impact Accelerator program. The startup won the Africa Cup at the 2019 SA Innovation Summit and received a $350,000 investment from Unicorn Group, a pan-African investment group, in 2019. It used the money to expand its business, including adding Leja to its portfolio.
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A Look At What The Startup Does
Founded in 2017, Kenyan Tekwane Mwendwa (pictured above) and Frenchman Maxime Servettaz, Asilimia allows customers to perform free mobile money transactions, while Leja facilitates bookkeeping, allowing traders to manage their earnings and outflows without requiring technical or accounting expertise. Asilimia wants to exploit the platform’s valuable data to provide loans to customers.
The company also plans to offer mobile loans, joining a market that currently has roughly 100 lending apps, including Branch by San Francisco-based Branch International Ltd and Tala by PayPal.
Asilimia will develop credit scoring models based on the collected data, according to Mwendwa, to determine how much would be extended to borrowers.
“We will factor in their B2B transactions, cash flow, sales, liabilities and expenses because all this information is in the app. This is possible because traders love to use our app which, unlike other lending apps, has inventory management. I like to think of our app as the operating system of informal businesses and we are happy that it is a one-stop shop for the traders,” said Mwendwa.
“Another thing that traders struggle with is airtime top-up. We interact with them daily and understand their pain points, and so we want to give them all the support they need so that they can continue doing business — we will also extend airtime top-up credit at no interest,” he said.
Beyond East Africa, Asilimia is looking into expanding into other regions in order to continue bridging the financial gap that traders across the continent are experiencing.]
Asimilia fintech Asimilia fintech
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 write