Kenyan fintech startup Pezesha, which connects credible borrowers and lenders, has received strategic seed investment from Consonance Investment Managers to drive growth and expansion in East and West Africa.
Pezesha, offers a value chain financial marketplace by financially educating borrowers and taking them through a credit scoring process before they qualify for a loan.
Lenders on the platform then extend the desired amount, the upper limit of which is determined by Pezesha’s risk assessment process, to the qualified borrowers.
The startup aims to be the first Africa-focused digital financial marketplace that converges lending amongst other financial services and products for both borrowers, lenders and investors, facilitating a shared economy.
The seed funding from Consonance Investment Managers comes through its maiden fund, Consonance Kuramo Special Opportunities Fund I, and follows a pre-seed round raised early last year from angels in Kenya and New York, as well as DFS Lab.
This previous round was used to build the startup’s team and platform, which has so far facilitated more than 20 million transactions while connecting thousands of quality borrowers to more than 2,000 lenders.
“We are delighted and honoured to have Consonance as strategic partners to support and fuel our mission of achieving meaningful financial inclusion to the 200 million in Sub-Saharan Africa who have been exploited and excluded from the formal financial ladder,” said Hilda Moraa, chief executive officer (CEO) of Pezesha and former founder of Weza Tele, which was among the first tech startup exits in Kenya.
Consonance Investment Managers CEO Mobolaji Adeoye said the strength and purpose of Pezesha’s mission was clear.
“They are setting the foundation to enable every African access credit and other financial services in a convenient, responsible, and transparent manner. The investment will help enhance Pezesha’s technology platform and fuel its growth plans across East and West Africa. We are glad to join Hilda and her team on this journey,” Adeoye said.
Early this year, Pezesha was one of the two Kenyan startups to be selected to participate in the inaugural Google Launchpad Africa accelerator, while the startup also took part in the Silicon Valley-based Blackbox Connect 20 accelerator programme.
