Lipa Later, a Kenya-based startup operating the Buy-Now-Pay-Later (BNPL) model, has raised $12 million in a funding round led by institutional investors, as it prepares to enter new market segments while expanding operations in its current markets.
Lipa Later is a Kenyan consumer credit platform co-founded by Kenyan tech entrepreneur Eric Muli in 2018. The startup has grown into one of the leading BNPL platforms in East Africa, with active operations in Kenya, Nigeria, Uganda and Rwanda.
Since 2018, the platform has extended its offers to cover other retail options such as electronics, furniture, home appliances, it has also served more than 200,000 customers and delivered a yearly growth rate of about 100 percent.
The recently completed funding round is a mix of equity and debt financing, led by institutional investors Cauris Finance, Lateral Frontiers VC, GreenHouse Capital, SOSV IV LLC, Sayani Investments and Axian Financial Services.
The $12-million capital financing, which brings the startup’s total funding to about $16 million to date, will be deployed to expand operations within its current markets (Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda) and into new markets such as Nigeria, Ghana and Tanzania.
It noted that the funding will also allow the startup to provide its BNPL services to its substantial pipeline of consumers supporting Lipa’s exclusive partnerships with world-class merchants in Sub-Saharan Africa.
One of Lipa Later’s early investors, Samakab Hashi, partner at Lateral Frontier VC, said: “Over the last few years, we have watched Eric Muli, CEO of Lipa Later, and his team put together the building blocks for pan-African expansion and this round of funding takes Lipa Later one step closer to being the dominant Buy-Now-Pay-Later player on the continent.”
Muli, the co-founder and CEO of Lipa Later, said: “In the next 12 months, we are looking to grow and double our presence in the existing markets, even as we open in three to five new markets in Africa.”
