Akiba Digital, a South African fintech startup, has raised more than $1.1 million in pre-seed funding co-led by Expert DOJO and Nigerian VC, OUI Capital.
The funding round was also joined by Basecamp Fund, Soma Capital, Hustle Fund, Future Africa, LoftyInc, a former PayPal executive, and a number of angel investors.
The startup will be use the investment to grow its market share in South Africa and connect over 20,000 SMEs to lenders through its ecosystem. The fund will also be deployed into assessing the African markets it is looking to expand into.
Founded in 2017 by Andile Maseko, Kamogelo Kekana, and Tebogo Mokwena, Akiba Digital is an AI-powered financial coach. It enables users to set savings goals and save towards the savings goals. They are rewarded for making contributions towards their savings goals. The platform automatically set up a rainy day fund for the user to increase financial security in case of emergencies.
Commenting, CEO and co-founder of Akiba Digital, Tebogo Mokwena said: “Our goal is to be in 10+ African markets in two to three years, enabling millions of small businesses and individuals to access better financing through our alternative scoring. Longer term we want to scale into South America and ultimately be one of Africa’s unicorns to IPO by 2027.”
