Kenyan Fintech Firm Zanifu Raises $11.2 Million To Expand Credit Services
Kenyan fintech firm Zanifu, which specializes in helping micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) in securing inventory financing, has successfully secured $11.2 million in a pre-Series A funding phase. The primary drivers of this funding were Beyond Capital Ventures and Variant Investments with assistance from Founders Factory Africa, AAIC Investing, Google Black Founders Fund, and continuous support from their existing investor Launch Africa.
Zanifu's roadmap post-funding involves strengthening its service portfolio by including distributors and other channels in its inventory credit solutions. Steve Biko, CO-founder, and CEO, sees the expansion plan as a way to assist businesses that have difficulty obtaining bank loans owing to factors such as weak management systems, absence of tangible collateral, and poor bookkeeping.
By employing information gathered from businesses and their partners, Zanifu aims to address this problem. The company mitigates associated risks by directly disbursing payments to vendors. Stock financing is usually done based on the business size with distributors accessing financing up to $10,000, while smaller enterprises can only secure $200 to $500 worth of credit. Zanifu plans to strategically develop throughout Kenya, and this implies that focus will be shifted away from nations like Ghana and Uganda, where small enterprises face similar cash flow challenges.
Together with competitors like Pezesha and Solv, Zanifu hopes to close Kenya's $19 billion financing gap for micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs). With its license issued from the Central Bank of Kenya, the company plans to expand its services to include insurance.
Zanifu's long-term goals include developing ground-breaking stock and financial data management strategies and broadening the range of financial products it offers.
In terms of raw statistics, the company is said to have aided over 13,000. The company has recently partnered with 500 distributors in a recent expansion to meet the rising demand.
Perhaps even more intriguing is the fact that after this investment round closes, Zanifu will have a debt-equity ratio of $12.7 million.
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