Lipa Later is a Kenyan fintech that offers consumer financing solutions. The company completed a KES 500 million (US$5 million) privately placed debt issuance. It plans to raise an additional KES 2 billion (US$20 million) in equity and debt to fund expansion in Kenya. Lipa Later is also crowdfunding roughly $1.2 million in exchange for equity at a reported valuation of $30,000,000; the article also references an ongoing ~ $1.34 million crowdfund on Republic. The five-year-old company previously raised about $25 million in equity and debt from investors including Founders Factory Africa Platform Capital and others. CEO Eric Muli said the new funding will enable infrastructure enhancements to make the company’s financing solutions more accessible, and the firm remains optimistic despite weakened VC appetite for growth and late-stage startups. Lipa Later operates a tech-driven BNPL platform that provides consumers with near-instant credit limits using proprietary credit-scoring and machine-learning systems. The company offers a BNPL API that integrates with e-commerce platforms and enables merchants to accept installment payments. It has exclusive partnerships with retailers across its markets, including a regional partnership with Carrefour that charges about 2.3% monthly interest on extended credit. Founded in 2018 and active in Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda, Lipa Later plans to expand into Tanzania, Ghana and Nigeria and to deepen its presence in existing markets. Management said it aims to grow and double its presence in current markets and open three to five new African markets in the next 12 months. The new funding will support product expansion, additional merchant partnerships, and geographic growth across Africa.

Total raised

$15M

Funding rounds

3

Latest round

Debt Financing

Latest activity

Sep 2023