Inclusive Economy | September 29, 2022

Numida raises $12.3 million to provide loans to small businesses in Uganda

Roodgally Senatus
ImpactAlpha Editor

Roodgally Senatus

ImpactAlpha, September 29 — Kampala-based Numida provides unsecured working capital loans, ranging from $100 to $5,000, to micro and small enterprises in as little as two hours.

The fintech startup raised $12.3 million in a pre-Series A equity and debt round. Serena Williams’ Serena Ventures led the $7.3 million equity portion, with participation from Launch Africa, Soma Capital, MFS Africa, Y Combinator and others. Lendable, which provides debt financing for fintechs targeting mostly low-income and largely women borrowers, provided the $5 million loan.

Numida will use the investment to double its customer base to 40,000 over the next 18 months and expand to markets such as Nigeria, Ghana, Egypt and Kenya.

Financial inclusion

Numida launched in 2015 to provide microfinance institutions with better data to underwrite loans to small and informal businesses. The fintech venture is using the data model to underwrite its own working capital loans, at a rate of $2 million a month. Numida gains insights into the operations of small business owners, who use Numida’s mobile app to manage their inventory, cash flows and employees.