Kenyan Fintech Pezesha Raises $11M, Backed By Women’s World Banking

Founded in 2017 by Hilda Moraa, Pezesha is a Kenyan digital lending infrastructure that allows both traditional and non-traditional financial institutions to offer working capital to micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs).

Now, the startup has secured an $11 million pre-Series A equity-debt round led by Women’s World Banking Capital Partners II with participation from Verdant Frontiers Fintech Fund, cFund and Cardano blockchain builder Input Output Global (IOG).

The round also included a $5 million debt from Talanton and Verdant Capital Specialist Funds.

Access to finance remains a key growth constraint for small businesses, with data showing a $330 billion financing deficit for the small enterprises that make up 90% of Africa’s businesses.

Pezesha aims to be part of the solution.

The fintech works with partner companies such as Twiga and MarketForce, which integrate its credit scoring APIs in their platforms to enable their customers to get real-time loan offers.

Pezesha told TechCrunch that it’s currently working with more than 20 partner companies that have enabled it to extend loans to over 100,000 businesses to date.

It expects this number to grow before the end of the year as an additional 10 companies integrate with its infrastructure. The fintech is able to extend loans of up to $10,000 at single-digit interest rates, and a repayment period of one year.

Pezesha plans to create a $100 million financing opportunity each year for businesses by tapping local and international banking institutions, high-net-worth individuals and decentralized finance.