US Tennis Player Serena Williams’ VC Firm Leads Ugandan Fintech’s $12.3M Pre-Series A Funding Round – Fintech Bitcoin News
Uganda-based digital lending fintech startup Numida has said it will begin offering its services to micro, small and medium enterprises in other African countries. Numida’s plans to offer its services to businesses outside Uganda’s borders came shortly after it was announced that the startup had raised a total of $12.3 million in its pre-Series A funding round. Serena Ventures, a venture capital firm founded by American tennis player Serena Williams, led the funding round.
Unlocking the potential of small businesses in Africa
Numida, the Uganda-based fintech, has said it plans to take its digital lending business outside the country, using part of the $12.3 million it raised via its pre-Serie A equity financing. The round was led by American tennis star Serena Williams’ venture capital firm Serena Ventures. Breega, 4Di Capital, Launch Africa, Soma Capital and Y Combinator also participated in this funding round.
In comments following Numida’s successful capital raising, co-founder and CEO Mina Shahid is said to have discussed the impact of the financial products his company has used for small businesses in Uganda and how this can be replicated in other African countries. Shahid said:
I am most excited to continue building and offering financial products to these micro and small business owners…. There are so many of these businesses across the continent, we really believe we have proven a model in Uganda that can be pan-African and unlock the potential of these businesses to grow and achieve great things.
Prioritization of small and medium-sized enterprises
As explained in a Techcrunch report, Numida has prioritized serving micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) because they are continuously marginalized by traditional financial institutions. Using the newly raised capital, Numida said it plans to increase its active customer base to 40,000. The fintech startup plans to do this by expanding its operations in two countries, the report said.
According to the report, Numida, which raised $2.3 million in 2021, has so far allocated $20 million in working capital to MSMEs. Backed by Lendable Asset Management, which recently lent $5 million to the startup, Numida will increase the value of its loans while also revamping its products to ensure they are affordable.
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