Kenya’s financial technology startup, M-Kopa, has raised $75 million in its equity funding round.
The startup, which serves as a digital financial services provider for under-banked customers, helps its customers to acquire a range of products and services without collateral.
The funding round, which was christened the “growth equity round,” was led by Generation Investment Management, and Broadscale Group. Further participation came from new investors like LocalGlobe’s Latitude Fund, and HEPCO Capital Management.
Some existing investors like CDC Group, and LGT Lightrock also participated in the fundraising round.
“We were early supporters of M-Kopa and continue to be impressed by the continued innovation of its product offerings and ability to accelerate at a significant scale. We are pleased to continue supporting M-Kopa as it scales further,” Dave Easton, partner at Generation Investment Management, said.
Launched in 2011 as an energy provider for low-income families and people living in rural areas, M-Kopa started operations by solving power issues for customers in Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda.
M-Kopa is a Swahili word which means “borrow.” The startup has been living up to its name, providing essential products such as solar lighting, televisions, fridges, smartphones, as well as financial services to its customers, without initial full payment, and without collateral or guarantor.
M-Kopa has its services activated in four African markets – Kenya, Ghana, Nigeria, and Uganda. The startup plans to use the newly raised funds to facilitate its expansion into more markets in Africa.
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The startup also plans to take steps beyond assets financing, and move into providing other services like health insurance, cash loans, as well as a buy-now-pay-later partnerships with merchants.
“We’re thrilled to partner with leading global investors with deep experience supporting growth-stage companies as we expand our platform to serve more of our customers’ needs…With this funding, we will expand to more markets across Africa and scale to over 10 million customers in the next few years,” Jesse Moore, CEO and co-founder, said.
In July, 2021, M-Kopa appointed Babajide Duroshola as its General Manager, coinciding with the execution of its plan to expand into Nigeria.
Briefly after its launch in Nigeria last July, M-Kopa recorded a sale of over 20,000 smartphone devices in Lagos, Nigeria.
