Numida, a fintech firm in Uganda, has raised US$12.3 million in pre-Series A debt and equity capital to help it grow its workforce and enter new markets.
In addition to current investors MFS Africa, Breega, 4Di Capital, Launch Africa Ventures, Soma Capital, and Y Combinator also participate in the US$7.3 million equity portion of the round led by Serena Ventures. Lendable Asset Management will provide $5 million in debt to complete the round.
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In 2017, Mina Shahid, Catherine Denis, and Ben Best founded Numida, which first allowed existing MFIs to offer unsecured credit to semi-formal firms. However, the company quickly changed its focus and started making direct loans to micro- and small-business borrowers.
Unsecured working capital loans are offered by Numida to African micro and small businesses using unique credit models and tech-enabled underwriting procedures (MSBs).
“Our claim to fame is that we have discovered a way to obtain and disperse unsecured working capital to cash-based enterprises without a digital transaction history. We don’t use data from digital point-of-sale systems or online marketplaces, and we don’t collect user data from their phones either. As a result, we have been able to serve the mom-and-pop stores that make up the bulk of enterprises in Africa and greatly increase our consumer base, according to Shahid.
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The additional funding will aid in expanding the startup’s team and enabling it to enter more markets; over the next 18 months, it expects to increase its workforce to 200 people.
