Nigerian startup Veend is providing on-demand access to finance for emergency or working capital purposes to borrowers with verifiable income.
Launched in 2021 by Olufemi Olanipekun and Ebenezer Ajayi, Veend provides instant loans online, meeting urgent personal needs with quick cash loans in less than five minutes without collateral.
“Our biggest customer group are Nigerian civil servants who are married with children, and barely earn enough to keep up with their household expenses,” Olanipekun said. “So they set up side businesses like farms and bakeries, and some of them sell construction materials so they can earn more money to afford the necessities of their household.”
For this customer group, Veend provides on-demand access to funds via USSD, mobile app, credit-enabled cards, and website. Credit penetration is still low in Africa – it is currently at 13 per cent in Nigeria. Though it is easy to lend, the problem that has prevented credit from growing sustainably is the problem of defaults.
“We are taking another approach by educating consumers on how to be a responsible borrower and how to manage their finances, and we are providing tools to help them earn more. Our model differs from that of the competition because we can access alternative data after getting consent from the customer and deduct repayment directly from the customer’s income source,” said Olanipekun.
“This approach allows us to maintain a low default rate. We also do not harass our customers if they default. We know life happens sometimes. Instead, we help them by recommending how they can restructure their finances to suit their new situation.”
Uptake has been “excellent”.
“We have served 314,000 borrowers since inception, and disbursed more than US$18 million in partnership with our lending partners,” said Olanipekun.
Last year, Veend raised a pre-seed round of funding worth US$390,000 from Magic Fund, The Oak Capital, Voltron Capital, Future Africa, BerryWood Capital and First Circle Capital, and it has also been accepted into the Nigeria-based Techstars programme. Olanipekun said Veend plans to expand into other African countries.
