Cape Town-based HAVAÍC backs Kenya's FinAccess
Cape Town-headquartered venture capital firm HAVAÍC this week announced a US$500,000 investment in FinAccess, an East African headquartered software solutions provider that digitises community banks or SACCOs (savings and credit cooperative organisations) and farming co-operatives (co-ops) in the region. FinAccess is driving financial inclusion and unlocking financial services for many unbanked East Africans through its technology platform and widespread distribution.
Allocated from the VC firm’s $20 million HAVAÍC Universum Core African Fund, which closed in May, the investment is part of a pre-series A funding round to expand the company’s two core products: banking software solution Fincore and agricultural software solution Grobox.
Founded by CEO Barclay Paul Okari in 2017, FinAccess offers a proprietary SaaS solution to SACCOs and co-ops.
With the support of HAVAÍC in partnership with other investors, FinAccess will cement its market leadership in Kenya and expand into other markets. Live pilots are already underway in Uganda, with Zambia, Rwanda, and Tanzania launching in the coming months.
“FinAccess is solving critical problems for Africa’s underserved communities,” says Rob Heath, partner at HAVAÍC. “The team’s growth and ability to perform over the last few years has been incredible to watch, and there is so much scope to continue growing across Kenya and beyond. FinAccess is 100% aligned with our investment thesis to make an impact by supporting early-stage, high-potential companies that solve real-world challenges through technology. We look forward to supporting their unfolding growth journey.”
Currently, the agriculture sector employs 65% of Africa’s population, yet only 1% of bank lending goes to agriculture, and the day-to-day operations of well-established SACCOs remain outdated and inefficient.
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