The fintech start-up based in Kenya, Pezesha has received strategic seed investment from Consonance Investment Managers for its expansion in East and West Africa.
Pezesha aims to be the first Africa-focused digital financial marketplace that facilitates a shared economy by providing a thriving platform for borrowers, lenders and investors on finances, goods and services.
The seed funding from Consonance Investment Managers comes through its maiden fund which was the Consonance Kuramo Special Opportunities Fund I, and follows a pre-seed round raised early last year from angels in Kenya and New York, as well as theDFS Lab.
This previous round was used to build the start-up’s team and platform, which has so far facilitated more than 20 million transactions while connecting thousands of borrowers to more than 2,000 lenders.
Pezesha offers a value chain financial marketplace by educating borrowers and taking them through a credit scoring process before they qualify for a loan.
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Lenders on the platform then extend the desired amount, the upper limit of which is determined by Pezesha’s risk assessment process, to the qualified borrowers.
“We are delighted and honoured to have Consonance as strategic partners to support and fuel our mission of achieving meaningful financial inclusion to the 200 million in Sub-Saharan Africa who have been exploited and excluded from the formal financial ladder,” said Hilda Moraa, chief executive officer (CEO) of Pezesha and former founder of Weza Tele, which was among the first tech start-up exits in Kenya.
Early this year, Pezesha was one of the two Kenyan start-ups selected to participate in the inaugural Google Launchpad Africa accelerator. It is also worth noting that the start-up took part in the Silicon Valley-based Blackbox Connect 20 accelerator program.