Kuunda, a Cape Town-based fintech providing embedded digital lending infrastructure across emerging markets, has raised $7.5 million to fuel its geographic expansion across Africa and the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region.
The Pre-Series A round, backed by Portugal Gateway Fund, Seedstars Africa Ventures, 4Di Capital, Accion Ventures, E4E Africa, and Nedbank, among others will also support the development of new credit products targeted at small merchants, mobile money agents, and consumers typically underserved by traditional banks.
“This raise gives us the resources to scale faster and deepen our partnerships with banks, telcos, and digital platforms across the continent,” said Andrew Milne, Kuunda’s Co-Founder and Co-CEO, in an interview. “We’re focused on unlocking liquidity where commerce happens — at the last mile.”
Founded in 2018, Kuunda operates a Lending-as-a-Service (LaaS) platform that allows banks and fintech partners to integrate overdraft and working capital products into existing digital ecosystems, such as mobile money wallets, e-commerce platforms, and gig economy apps.
Its technology stack leverages real-time behavioral data and alternative credit scoring models to facilitate micro-loans and working capital finance for informal traders and small businesses, a segment often excluded from formal credit channels due to lack of collateral or banking history.
Kuunda’s platform currently supports over 2 million active borrowers monthly and has facilitated over $3 billion in loan disbursements to date in partnership with regional banks and mobile operators. The company reports over 10 million end users have accessed credit through its platform.
“Kuunda’s ability to turn billions of transactional data points into actionable credit insights enables sustainable lending at scale in informal economies,” said Erik Van Veen, Partner at Portugal Gateway Fund, which co-led the round. “This is the credit infrastructure Africa has been missing.”
Bruce Nsereko-Lule, General Partner at Seedstars Africa Ventures, added: “Cash flow — not demand — is the real constraint for millions of agents and MSMEs across Africa. Kuunda’s embedded credit tools solve this friction directly at the point of digital payment.”
The fundraise comes amid growing investor appetite for embedded finance and infrastructure fintech in emerging markets, with VC investment in African fintech surpassing $2.3 billion in 2024, per data from Partech Partners.
Kuunda’s investors also noted its path to profitability, a focus that has gained importance as global venture markets recalibrate away from high-burn growth.
Kuunda has rapidly scaled from Tanzania and Pakistan to five new markets in the past 18 months: Uganda, Malawi, Kenya, Mozambique, and Zambia, with a pipeline of expansion into North and West Africa and Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) markets. The new funding will support this continued market entry, local compliance integrations, and technology upgrades.
The company also plans to launch new “productive financing” products tailored to small merchants, delivery riders, and women-owned businesses — all key contributors to Africa’s informal economic output.