Kenyan startup Shield Finance, which has launched a payday lending solution that enables employees to access loans directly via mobile phones, has raised an undisclosed amount of funding from a local angel investor.
Shield Finance uses proprietary technology and leverages on mobile money to offer underbanked employees affordable salary advances directly to their mobile phones, generating revenue on interest charged on salary advances.
Director Kenny Kinako told Disrupt Africa the startup could not reveal too many details, but that the funding was for on-lending rather than equity.
“This comes with an agreement for a further line of credit as demand increases,” he said.
Shield Finance is still looking to raise a seed round of US$350,000 for equity, which Kinako said will be used to hire sales staff and ramp up its technical capacity in readiness to scale.
With this in mind, the startup has been entering a number of startup pitching competitions, and has had a productive last few months in that respect. In June it came out on top against five other teams at the DEMO Africa pre-pitch event held in Nairobi, becoming the second startup to book its place at the main event in Lagos, Nigeria in September.
Meanwhile, last month it was a winner in the finance category at the PIVOT East mobile startups pitching competition in Nairobi.
