Lidya is the future of finance for small businesses in frontier markets. Their goal is to help great business owners access financing and build a credit score through an easy and inspiring lending process. Launched in 2016, the company is on a mission to close a $4 trillion SME credit gap worldwide. Businesses who are looking for $500 USD to $50,000 in working capital are able to apply online or via their mobile phone and get a decision rapidly. To assess credit risk, Lidya uses close to 100 data points to evaluate businesses, build a credit score unique to each business, and disburse loans in 24 hours or less. They use mobile-first technology, fantastic customer experience, and proprietary credit scoring algorithms to help African businesses and individuals open an account online in 15 minutes, manage receivables and cash flow, access credit needed to grow their businesses, and build credit scores that unlock higher credit limits and affordable rates.
Location: Nigeria, Lagos, Itirin
Employees: 51-200
Total raised: $8.15M
Founded date: 2016
Investors 4
| Date | Name | Website |
| - | Unreasonab... | unreasonab... |
| - | Musha Vent... | mushaventu... |
| - | Tekton Ven... | tektonvent... |
| - | Bamboo Cap... | bamboocp.c... |
Funding Rounds 2
| Date | Series | Amount | Investors |
| 23.05.2018 | Series A | $6.9M | - |
| 05.04.2017 | Seed | $1.25M | - |
Mentions in press and media 23
| Date | Title | Description | Source |
| 22.01.2021 | Wave Out, OZÉ In: How a Ghana-based fintech wants to change ... | Small and medium businesses across Africa often have a hard time getting loans; OZÉ, a Ghana-based f... | techcabal.... |
| 17.09.2020 | A conversation with Tunde Kehinde of Lidya on finance and th... | Small and medium businesses have been some of the hardest hit in the COVID-19 pandemic. And all that... | techcrunch... |
| 13.03.2020 | Coronavirus Will Be Even Worse For Low-Income People And Bus... | As the world reacts to the novel coronavirus — now officially a pandemic according to the World Heal... | forbes.com... |
| 04.09.2019 | Accion Venture Lab to invest at least $4.5m in African finte... | Accion Venture Lab, the seed investment initiative of US-based non-profit Accion, has launched a new... | venturebur... |
| 04.09.2019 | Accion Venture Lab to invest at least $4.5m in African finte... | Accion Venture Lab, the seed investment initiative of US-based non-profit Accion, has launched a new... | venturebur... |
| 16.08.2019 | Nigeria-based Lidya to offer Nigerian SMEs Access to Loans w... | Lidya, a credit facilitator startup that is based in Nigeria creates access to credit facility for S... | techgistaf... |
| 24.05.2019 | Leading African FinTechs To Take Center Stage At Africa Tech... | Share this: Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new... | appsafrica... |
| 17.12.2018 | Are these the 10 biggest disclosed African tech startup deal... | A whole lot of money. That’s what over 60 African tech startups raised this year. While not every s... | venturebur... |
| 17.12.2018 | Are these the 10 biggest disclosed African tech startup deal... | A whole lot of money. That’s what over 60 African tech startups raised this year. While not every s... | venturebur... |
| 05.09.2018 | Goodwell launches new Africa-focused €20m fund aimed at incl... | Dutch impact investor Goodwell Investments has announced that it has launched Goodwell IV, a €20-mil... | venturebur... |
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