South African fintech startup Invoiceworx will from now on be known as Zande Africa after a rebrand in line with its expansion strategy.
Launched in 2017 by Siya Ntutela and Mdu Thabethe, Invoiceworx offers an innovative financial and distribution platform that provides trade and merchant finance to spaza shops.
The startup provides lines of credit to spaza shops so they are able to buy stock, and helps owners build a credit score. The USSD technology developed by Zande allows the owners to apply for credit, check outstanding balances and make payments using their phones.
It has now rebranded to Zande Africa, which Ntutela said fit with its strategy of multiplying its service offering to other regions in South Africa and beyond. The name “Zande” itself means “to grow” or “to multiply” in Nguni languages.
“The old name did not explain or give an idea of what the business does, most people actually thought we were an invoicing software for spazas,” Ntutela said. “Our plans to expand into Kwamashu in the next few months clearly align with our strategy of being in every township that needs the service in the next five years.”
The rebrand is also a means of us re-introducing the business as a South African startup assisting spaza shops.
“There is poor data visibility on purchasing and payments behaviours of spaza shops in South Africa, and our solution seeks to mine the data and further use this data to offer better solutions to the informal sector. This data will in future assist corporates and big banks in coming up with better inclusive solutions for the informal sector,” said Ntutela.
Zande Africa has warehouses in Ermelo and Nelspruit, but is set to increase this number with plans of expanding its first mile delivery and payment solutions offerings to spaza shops in and around KwaMashu, KwaZulu Natal.
“The new name better reflects our business and our evolution into mobility and scaling of the business,” said Ntutela. “We are now ready to fundraise to boost the speed of our growth.”
