Kenyan fintech startup, Kwara, which is helping to turn traditional savings cooperatives into modern digital banks, has raised $4 million in a seed round.
Investors who took part in the funding round include Breega VC firm, SoftBank Vision Fund Emerge, Finca Ventures, New General Market Partners, Globivest, Do Good Invest, Rabacap, Launch Africa, Norrsken Impact Accelerator, Future Africa, Samurai Incubate, DOB Equity, and fintech angels.
The startup says it will use the funding to build a neobank app that will enable individuals to sign-up with their preferred credit unions to access various financial services. The neobank will give credit-union members access to instant loans and third-party services such as insurance, as the start-up moves to offer end-to-end solutions to its clients.
This is expected to open up new borderless avenues for the lending institutions to sign up new members and help credit-unions shift away from tedious paper-based systems and the need for elaborate brick-and-mortar branches. Members using the app, which is set for launch mid next year, will be able to track their personal financial flows from the app too.
On its platform, Kwara supported $40 million in transactions between credit unions and their members.
Kwara connects the savings cooperatives with banks, payment gateways and other third parties through an open API. This all comes in one software-as-a-service package, meaning cooperative clients pay for their usage and get a single end-to-end solution.
Kwara has over the last year entered South Africa and Philippines, as the demand for its services grew beyond Kenya. It hopes to triple the number of credit unions using its software to 150 by the end of 2022. The startup currently serves 60,000 Sacco members but is also looking to cross the 100,000 mark by the end of next year. The startup’s goal is to serve 1 billion people by 2030.
The startup recently partnered with Lami Technologies, a Kenyan-based digital insurance company, to make accessible a wide range of insurance products including health, property, business and life covers on the app.
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