Kenyan BNPL startup Lipa Later eyes more African markets after raising $12 million

Lipa Later, a Kenyan tech-led consumer credit platform, is planning to expand to new markets in Africa after raising $12 million in pre-Series A funding. The equity and debt funding round saw the participation of Cauris Finance, Lateral Frontiers VC, GreenHouse Capital, SOSV IV LLC, Sayani Investments and Axian Financial Services. The startup, a buy-now-pay-later […]

Goldfinch raises $25M from a16z to power its DeFi lending protocol for borrowers in developing countries

For all of the excitement pulsing through the so-called web3 space in the past year, most of the heartiest sums of investor dollars have seemed to find their way towards products touching users in the United States, but an increasing number of startups are looking to tap opportunities in developing nations where existing centralized financial […]

Credit-focused company Upgrade raises $280 million at $6 billion valuation

Fintech company Upgrade has raised a Series F round just four months after raising its previous round. Today, the company is announcing $280 million in new funding at a $6 billion pre-money valuation. In August, the company announced its Series E round — $105 million at a $3.325 billion valuation. In other words, the company […]

Lessons from COVID: Flexible funding is a must for alternative lenders

Alternative lending is any lending that occurs outside of a conventional financial institution. These lenders offer different types of loans such as lines of credit, microloans and equipment financing.