Pezesha
“Can a Kenyan-licensed digital credit provider become the embedded working-capital rail for every African B2B marketplace and payments platform?”
Founded2016
HQNairobi, Kenya
FoundersHilda Moraa
Total raised~$11M (pre-Series A)
Latest roundPre-Series A, 2022 ($6M equity + $5M debt)
IndustryInfrastructure / Lending
The story
Founded in 2016 as a Kenyan SME lending marketplace, Pezesha evolved into an embedded finance infrastructure provider — exposing credit scoring, KYC, loan management, and B2B working capital APIs ('Pezesha as a Service') to payment aggregators, marketplaces and supply-chain platforms across Sub-Saharan Africa. The 2022 pre-Series A funded geographic expansion beyond Kenya/Uganda, while the 2023 CBK Digital Credit Provider license formalized its position as a regulated lender powering embedded credit for partners like iPay, Jumia and Twiga Foods.
Last 12 months
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Product timeline
2016
Pezesha Africa Limited founded in Kenya by Hilda Moraa· pivot
2020
Expanded merchant financing via partnerships with Jumia, Twiga Foods, Taimba, Ajua during COVID supply chain disruption· lending
2021
Launched iPay Kopesha embedded working capital with iPay payments gateway· lending
2022
Raised $11M pre-Series A to expand into Nigeria, Rwanda, Ghana, Uganda, Francophone Africa· lending
2023
Received Digital Credit Provider (DCP) license from Central Bank of Kenya· banking
Regulated entities
Digital Credit Provider (DCP)
Kenya (CBK) · 2023
Pezesha Africa Limited
The stack
Banking / BaaS
Lending
Accounting gap: minor