FUNDING | Kenyan Buy Now Pay Later Fintech, Lipa Later, Secures $3.4 Million Further Demonstrating BNPL Potential in Africa

Lipa Later, a Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) fintech platform based in Kenya, has secured $3.4 million through a privately-placed debt issuance to support its expansion and broaden its range of services.

Founded in 2018, Lipa Later’s mission is to empower African businesses by providing a centralized and fully integrated platform that facilitates e-commerce, fosters financial inclusion, and supports shopping.

The startup offers a range of services, including:

• Consumer credit
• Working capital, and
• e-Commerce solutions

to assist merchants in growing their businesses and expanding their reach.

The $3.4 million debt capital raise received support from two key advisory firms:

• Rubicon Landing, a well-regarded transaction advisory firm serving as the transaction advisors, and
• KN Law, a prominent legal advisory firm that provided legal counsel for the transaction

Lipa Later expressed that the successful fundraising round serves as evidence of its remarkable growth path and the trust it has established within the Kenyan financial landscape. This influx of capital will empower the company to broaden its range of services and enhance its ability to provide even better service to its customers.

“We are excited about the opportunities this funding has unlocked for merchants and consumers. We would like to extend our heartfelt gratitude to the investors and supporters for their unwavering trust in our vision. These funds have enabled us to further invest in technology and infrastructure to make our financing solutions even more accessible and convenient for our customers,” said Eric Muli, Group CEO at Lipa Later.

Lipa Later, which recently acquired e-Commerce platform, SkyGarden, plans to secure an additional $13.6 million in both equity and debt funding with the aim of further accelerating its growth.

The startup is crowd-funding $1.2 million at a $30,000,000 valuation accepting investments as low as $100 on the crowdfunding platform, Republic.

The BNPL sector has received interest in recent months across the continent:

• In April 2023, Peach Payments from South Africa secured $31 million in Series A funding led by Apis Partners
• In Late 2022, Blnk, an Egyptian digital lendin startup raised $23.7 million in equity and debt funding and $8.3 million in securitized bond issuance
• MoneyFellows, an Egyptian ROSCA (Rotating Savings and Credit Association) raised $31 million in November, 2022

The recent funding rounds evidently demonstrate the growing interest in the BNPL vertical and the opportunities therein among investors.

In 2022, BitKE identified BNPL, crypto, SaaS, digital lending, remittance/international payments as the key sub-sectors dominating the African fintech landscape.