Payhippo
“Can an AI-driven SME lender in Nigeria pivot into Africa's clean energy financing gap by embedding credit within renewable energy adoption journeys?”
Founded2019
HQLagos, Nigeria
FoundersChioma Okotcha
Total raised$6.1M
Latest roundSeed, 2021
IndustryFintech / Lending
The story
Payhippo was founded in 2019 as an AI-driven SME lending platform in Nigeria, providing quick loans to small and medium businesses. After raising $3M in 2021 and building out its lending stack with embedded insurance via Curacel, the company pivoted and rebranded to Rivy, focusing on renewable energy financing. Rivy is now positioned as a clean energy lending platform, backed by Maritime Microfinance Bank as a parent entity, representing a significant shift from general SME credit to a sector-specific impact-lending thesis.
Product timeline
2019
Payhippo founded in Lagos, Nigeria as an AI-driven SME lending platform.· lending
2020
Raised ~$1M in pre-seed funding to build quick-loan infrastructure for Nigerian SMEs.· lending
2021
Raised $3M seed round led by angel investors including Chipper Cash and Flutterwave co-founders.· lending
2022
Integrated with Curacel Grow API to offer embedded insurance products to its SME borrowers.· banking
2024
Rebranded to Rivy (Rivy Ltd.), shifting focus toward clean energy financing for homes and businesses in Africa.· pivot
The stack
2 layers disclosed in Payhippo’s embedded-finance stack
Lending
SME quick business loansWorking capital loans
Insurance
in the full report
Accounting gap: none
1 more provider across 1 layer, with confidence-scored evidence and source URLs, are in the Embedded Finance Index report.