Kenyan lending startup Zanifu secures undisclosed funding from Yango Ventures

The recently established US $20 million corporate venture capital (CVC) division of tech giant Yango, Yango Ventures, has contributed an undisclosed sum of money to Kenyan lending startup Zanifu.

Steve Biko and Sebastian Mithika founded Zanifu in 2017, and the following year it began operations by lending short-term working capital to MSMEs in the FMCG supply chain.

In addition to financing over 15,000 SMEs and disbursing over US$60 million in loans thus far, the startup has achieved a noteworthy milestone in the cash-intensive fintech industry by breaking even for two consecutive months.

In August 2023, Zanifu raised a debt and equity funding round of US$11.2 million. Yango Ventures has since provided additional funding. The US$20 million corporate venture fund Yango Ventures was established in April by the multinational ride-hailing and tech conglomerate Yango Group with a focus on early-stage African startups.

Following its July investment in the mobility startup BuuPass, this is the fund’s second significant investment in Kenya this year.

“In a market where most small retailers are excluded from formal credit, Zanifu is building critical financial infrastructure from the ground up,” Yango Ventures said in a statement. “We’re proud to support the team as they scale across Africa and beyond!”