← Embedded Finance Index 2026

Ukheshe

“Can Ukheshe become the go-to embedded finance infrastructure layer for banks, telcos, and fintechs across Africa and emerging markets via its Eclipse API?”

Founded2018
HQLondon, United Kingdom (with offices in UAE, India, Mauritius, South Africa, Kenya)
Total raised$42M
Latest roundSeries A
IndustryInfrastructure / BaaS
The story

Founded in 2018 in South Africa as a payment-platform specialist, Ukheshe pivoted quickly from point-solution payments processing to a full Banking-as-a-Service enablement layer anchored by its Eclipse API. The company positioned itself as the embedded finance infrastructure partner for banks, telcos, and fintechs across Africa and emerging markets — white-labelling digital wallets, card issuing, KYC, and cross-border remittance capabilities. In 2022 it established a UK-headquartered international division and raised institutional capital from DPI to accelerate expansion beyond South Africa into 40+ markets.

Last 12 months
2022-12
2022-09
2022-05
2022-03
Product timeline
2018
Ukheshe founded in South Africa as a fintech payment platform specialist.· pivot
2020
Launched Third-Party Processing Services (TPP) in South Africa through extended partnership with Mastercard and Nedbank, enabling virtual and prepaid card issuance for businesses.· card
2021
Grew fourfold, expanded staff to nearly 100; enabled embedded finance for Telkom (Telkom Pay mPOS) via Eclipse API.· banking
2022
Began processing payments for Mastercard Track Instant Pay (virtual card B2B payments solution) in MEA; launched SME-in-a-Box with Zambian bank Zanaco via Digital PayGo partner.· banking
2022
Joined AWS Partner Network; formed Ukheshe International as UK-headquartered division to accelerate expansion to 8+ countries.· pivot
2022
Received investment from DPI and Fireball Capital to fuel international expansion across emerging markets.· acquisition
2023
CTO Paul Carter-Brown authored thought leadership on Eclipse API-driven innovation; platform expanded to 40 markets with 3 million end-users.· banking
Regulated entities
3
regulatory licences held by Ukheshe
Licence types, jurisdictions and registered entities are in the Embedded Finance Index report.
The stack
3 layers disclosed in Ukheshe’s embedded-finance stack
Banking / BaaS
Nedbank (sponsor bank / settlement partner)
Card network
in the full report
Sponsor bank
in the full report
Accounting gap: none
2 more providers across 2 layers, with confidence-scored evidence and source URLs, are in the Embedded Finance Index report.