Numida, a Uganda-based digital lending fintech startup, has announced that it will begin offering its services to micro, small, and medium-sized businesses in other African countries. The plan to serve cross-border businesses came shortly after the startup announced that it had raised a total of $12.3 million in a pre-Series A funding round. Serena Ventures, a venture capital firm founded by American tennis player Serena Williams, led the funding round.
Unleashing the Potential of African SMEs
Uganda-based fintech Numida announced plans to use part of the $12.3 million raised in pre-Series A equity and debt financing to expand its digital lending business outside the country. The round was led by Serena Ventures, the venture capital arm of U.S. tennis star Serena Williams. Also participating in the funding round were Breega, 4Di Capital, Launch Africa, Soma Capital, and Y Combinator.
In comments following Numida’s successful capital raise, co-founder and CEO Mina Shahid reportedly touted the impact of the financial products the company is providing to small businesses in Uganda and how this can be replicated in other African countries. Shahid stated.
I am most excited to continue building and offering financial products for these micro and small business owners ……. There are many such businesses on the African continent. We really believe that we can demonstrate a pan-African model in Uganda and unlock the potential for these businesses to grow and do great things.
Prioritizing SMEs
as explained in a Techcrunch reportNumida thus prioritizes micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) that continue to be marginalized by traditional financial institutions. With the funds raised, Numida plans to increase the number of active customers to 40,000. The fintech startup says it plans to achieve this by expanding its operations in two countries.
According to the report, Numida, which raised $2.3 million in 2021, has granted MSME $20 million in working capital to date. With the help of Lendable Asset Management, which recently lent $5 million to the startup, Numida plans to increase the loan amount and at the same time modify its products to ensure their affordability.
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