The Venture Codex

Participated · Seed · Aug 2023

Paismo offers a Software-as-a-Service platform that integrates attendance and timesheets with payroll and provides mobile app access to payslips. The product targets global markets while creating local impact in Pakistan, with features designed for payroll, HR, and benefits management. Paismo aims to expand beyond Pakistan into the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) and Southeast Asia. The company raised a seed round to fund growth and operations and has positioned itself as a modern HR tech provider for underserved regional markets. Paismo was founded by Rebecka Zavaleta and Usama Mahmud and is based in Lahore, Pakistan. Its latest financing brings its total funding to date to $1.5 million.

Participated · Seed · Oct 2022

Bumpa offers mobile-first digital tools for micro-retailers to manage sales, track inventory, accept payments, and operate their businesses at the point of sale. The company targets micro-merchants facing operational constraints such as fragmented logistics and informal workflows, positioning its product to add structure to existing informal commercial behaviors. Bumpa is described as operating in Nigeria and sits at the point-of-sale layer relative to other commerce platforms. Financially, Bumpa has raised $4.2 million across two funding rounds, including a $4 million seed round in October 2022 led by Base10 Partners. The recent undisclosed investment from Jobtech Alliance was made after the alliance's landscape scan of digital services for MSMEs across Sub-Saharan Africa. The announcement did not provide revenue, user metrics, or specific plans for the new capital.

Participated · Series A · Sep 2022

Founded in 2018, Julaya operates a digital payments platform that enables merchants and enterprises to send, receive, and manage funds electronically. The company has secured formal Payment Establishment status from the Central Bank of West African States (BCEAO), allowing it to expand commercially and partner with other regional financial institutions. Julaya currently serves more than 1,000 business clients, ranging from small merchants to large enterprises, demonstrating strong initial market traction. Its core product focuses on streamlining B2B payments, payroll, and supplier disbursements, helping companies move away from cash-based transactions. With fresh capital in hand, Julaya plans to accelerate product development and widen its customer base throughout West Africa. The startup’s financial position has been strengthened by the recent $1.4 million convertible bond, which provides working capital without immediate equity dilution. Future milestones tied to the bond’s conversion terms will incentivize Julaya to translate regulatory success into sustained revenue growth and improved margins.

Participated · Seed · May 2022

TopUp Mama operates a B2B e-commerce and logistics platform that sources supplies from distributors and farmers, aggregates items in cold-chain warehouses, and handles last-mile delivery to restaurants and food vendors. The company offers short-term credit (a buy-now-pay-later product) to help merchants restock and grow, and has developed a food delivery platform to help restaurants manage operations and connect with consumers. TopUp Mama launched in Nairobi and also has operations in Nigeria; it was co-founded in February 2021. The startup grew tenfold in its first year and reports over 3,000 merchants on its platform, with about 1,000 active users placing orders every month. Financially, it closed a $1.7 million seed round in March, bringing total capital raised to $2.16 million. Over the next few years the company aims to become the go-to supplier for 50,000 businesses in Kenya and Nigeria and to be the largest grocery distributor in Africa targeting restaurants.

Participated · Seed · Apr 2022

ImaliPay is a one-stop embedded financial services platform for gig economy workers across Africa. It began with a BNPL fuel product for two-wheeler drivers and expanded into services including spare parts, smartphones, power banks, savings, investments, and health and income-protection insurance. The company connects to partners via APIs and also offers services through an app, chatbot and USSD, building a partner ecosystem of gig platforms and vendors. In 15 months its user base grew 60x to the tens of thousands, with services available through about 4,500 vendor points and over 200,000 transactions; revenues come from transaction and referral fees. ImaliPay was launched in late 2020 by Tatenda Furusa and Oluwasanmi Akinmusire, who previously worked at Cellulant. After prior pre-seed support and a $800,000 pre-seed in 2020, it closed a $3M seed in debt and equity to scale the team, boost technology and expand into new markets such as Ghana and Egypt. ImaliPay is an embedded finance platform founded in 2020 by Tatenda Furusa and Sanmi Akinmusire that targets financial inclusion for African gig workers. The company uses AI and Big Data to design tailored products—loans, cash advances, savings accounts and credit‑building tools—integrated with gig platforms. It offers in‑kind loans and a buy‑now‑pay‑later model tied to a worker’s trade; for example, Bolt drivers in Kenya can request fuel loans repaid after three to four days. ImaliPay aims to build an ecosystem that creates a safety net for gig workers through easy savings and transparent in‑kind financing to drive productivity and economic empowerment. The startup plans to expand its product offering and grow its presence in Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa. Recently it secured an undisclosed pre‑seed funding round to support that expansion.