Pezesha, a Pan-African fintech company building scalable lending infrastructure for small and medium-sized enterprises(SMEs) and institutions, has announced the close of a seven-figure growth funding round led by GreenHouse Capital (GHC).
The fintech has also received on-lending liquidity support from the Greenhouse Capital subsidiary Venture Garden Group (VGG).
The fresh funding will enable the fintech to expand its lending strength to SMEs across Africa.
The fintech received a nod from Capital Markets Authority (CMA) in 2020, which saw Pezesha become the first local firm to successfully exit the CMA sandbox with a letter of no objection to operate in Kenya.
Pezesha offers affordable working capital to small businesses
The fintech is solving working capital and trade finance access problems that affect SMEs in Africa by enabling non-traditional finance institutions to offer working capital to SMEs using its lending infrastructure.
The company has built robust APIs to originate quality SMEs and original credit scoring models that allow capital to flow efficiently and productively.
The fintech previously raised capital from Consonance and Seedstars.
Hilda Moraa, CEO and Founder of the fintech, said it is 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 Moraa.
GHC’s investment will enable the growth of the fintech existing partnerships with the likes of Twiga Foods, Jumia, Marketforce, and Popote Pay, among others.
The investment will also unlock Pezesha’s vision of building the operating system to power embedded finance in Africa.
Ruby Nimkar, Principal at GreenHouse Capital, said the pan-African fintech is breaking down barriers to SME financing by taking an ecosystem approach to the problem of access to capital.
Bunmi Akinyemiju, CEO of Venture Garden Group said Pezesha’s innovative model is driving capital to the African SMEs that need it the most.
“We are excited to be partnering with Pezesha to expand their access to funds that they can use for their on-lending liquidity,” said Akinyemiju.
The fintech is planning to launch in Uganda this month.
