Paylend, a Kenyan fintech startup, have today announced that it has raised $2 million dollars seed investment from Next Chymia Consulting HK Limited.
Founded in September 2019, Paylend is a B2C, B2B and C2B holistic retail and service Industry fintech company in Africa that ensures retailers and service providers have business continuity by bridging the credit gap.
So far, Paylend has digitized over 10,000 SMEs and growing with its users enjoying an array of services including access to credit for products and services and crowdfunding tools.
Paylend’s mission is to support MSMEs across Africa solve the problem of access to continuous capital while bridging the consumer data gap by connecting consumers to products and services.
Paylend’s model enables last mile consumer data collection that allows for a thorough understanding of consumer needs as it creates value for the SMEs ecosystem.
This investment will help Paylend grow its operation in the Kenyan market and open new markets in Tanzania, Zambia and Nigeria as part of its next 3 years growth plan.
“I believe in impact driven solutions. For a very long time, MSMEs have experienced stunted growth due to lack of efficient business tools or lack of funds. With Paylend, we are able to turn this around by helping these businesses access affordable credit quicker thus allowing them to have liquidity thus ensuring business continuity.
“Additionally, we form alliances with strategic partners with similar goals to present business tools that ease operations of these MSMEs,” said Eliutherius Juma, CEO, Paylend.
29% of formal SMEs in Africa have access to loans, line of credit or overdraft. The numbers are significantly lower in the informal MSME sector that accounts to over 60% of businesses in the region.
“The value of the credit gap alone in sub-saharan Africa is at $90 billion that requires an increase of over 350% service to close the gap. To tackle these challenges, Africa needs transformational interventions. The formal banking landscape in Sub-Saharan Africa supports around 20% of Africa’s bankable population with the majority of people excluded from access to finance and wealth creation, this is a massive opportunity for FinTechs like Paylend.” Further stated Juma.
Kenji Sasaki, the CEO of Next Chymia Consulting HK Limited said of the partnership “We are absolutely delighted to partner and support Paylend. Our vision is to ensure that no one is left behind in Africa when it comes to access to technology that can potentially facilitate wealth creation.
“We believe in the power of technology in transforming communities, and Paylend’s model is doing that at a micro level, which is where a lot of work is needed if we are to drive digitization. We have seen first-hand the potential that the informal sector in Africa has in solving key society issues and we are excited to be able to support and create impact.”
