Pezesha, a Pan-African embedded finance financial technology company headquartered in Kenya, has secured a pre-series A investment of $11 million, led by Women’s World Banking Capital Partners II. The investment, comprising $6 million in equity and $5 million in debt, aims to fuel Pezesha's expansion across Sub-Saharan Africa, addressing the significant $328 billion financing gap for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the region. Founded in 2017, Pezesha specializes in providing affordable working capital to financially excluded SMEs, leveraging its business-to-business digital lending infrastructure. The company plans to scale operations in its core markets and enter new territories, particularly in East and West Africa.
Pezesha's platform integrates seamlessly with tech-enabled businesses like Twiga Foods and Jumia, offering credit and other financial services to their networks at the point of sale. Through its credit scoring application programming interfaces and financial literacy initiatives, Pezesha aims to empower micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises and foster responsible borrowing practices. The investment round also includes strategic participation from Verdant Frontiers Fintech Fund, cFund, Talanton, Verdant Capital Specialist Funds, and IOG-Cardano, reflecting a concerted effort to promote gender-inclusive financial services and leverage blockchain technology to enhance access to affordable capital.