Lipa Later, a trusted buy now pay later (BNPL) company operating in Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda and Nigeria, has raised a facility from Cauris Inc, a global private credit investment firm. The Cauris facility will allow Lipa Later to provide its BNPL services to its substantial current pipeline of consumers supporting Lipa’s exclusive partnerships with world-class merchants in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Lipa Later’s one-of-a-kind payment checkout API in Sub-Saharan Africa integrates into payment gateways and e-commerce platforms, enabling both its mobile wallet and an online merchant marketplace that allows retailers to sell products directly to consumers financed by Lipa Later. The company’s proprietary scoring system based on machine learning allows it to make credit decisions in seconds. With Cauris as a financing partner, Lipa Later aims to support liquidity for its substantial network of existing retailers in Africa, which includes top global merchants currently representing over $400 million in annual demand. Merchants partnering with Lipa Later enjoy alternate channels to drive sales growth, higher order values, and increased repeat purchase rates. “We are extremely excited to be working with Cauris Finance as we look towards asserting our dominance as Africa’s leading BNPL player. With the backing from Cauris, we will be opening new markets and doubling down in our existing markets over the next 12 months” said Eric Muli, the Co-Founder and CEO of Lipa Later.
Despite the focus of BNPL in western economies, the demand for credit financing in Africa is immense due to the historical lack of credit card and other consumer products financing options. “With formal credit available to only a tiny minority in Lipa Later’s target markets, we are excited to be supporting Lipa and its unique capabilities in bolstering consumer credit in the region,” said Azer Songnaba, the Co-Founder and Chief Investment Officer of Cauris. “Furthermore, our partnership with Lipa Later strongly fits our goal of employing Decentralized Finance to increase financial inclusion.”
Gahirigo Capital acted as the sole advisor and arranger to Lipa Later in this transaction and played an integral role in this transaction between Lipa Later and Cauris. “Gahigiro Capital is proud to have worked with Lipa Later and Cauris on this landmark transaction, and we’re eager to see Lipa Later further scale across the continent,” said Michael Shema, the Managing Director of Gahigiro Capital.
About Lipa Later
Founded in 2017, Nairobi-based Lipa Later provides a point of sale credit program that allows retailers to more efficiently sell goods and services to consumers with repayments made in affordable monthly installments. It is a leading third-party installment plan for retailers in East Africa and currently operates in Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda and Nigeria. The company’s product offering allows for both online and offline integration with retailers and both online and offline sales platforms including mobile wallets for consumers. For more information, please visit https://lipalater.com.
About Cauris
Cauris is a global private credit investment firm that partners with emerging financial technology companies worldwide. Cauris’ mission is to drive financial inclusion through use of decentralized finance by helping small and medium-sized businesses, as well as consumers, across the Global South to scale, an effort that the World Bank currently estimates will require $5.2TN in financing to accomplish. To this end, Cauris aims to facilitate access to credit to 100 million people via its fintech partners. Cauris believes this is key to empowering individuals and enabling economic growth in emerging and frontier markets. Cauris currently provides financing to fintechs in India, Ghana, Nigeria, Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda. For more information, please visit www.caurisfinance.com.
About Gahigiro Capital
Gahigiro Capital Ltd. is a corporate finance & advisory firm headquartered in Kigali, Rwanda that provides services to start-ups, SMEs, corporates, and multinationals operating across sub-Saharan Africa.
Founded in 2016, Gahigiro has a large and diversified network of institutional Africa focused investors. They offer capital raising services, mergers and acquisitions services, placement agent services, and advisory/consulting services. With Rwanda’s central location and a dynamic bilingual team, Gahigiro is well-positioned to serve both Francophone and Anglophone African countries with long-term strategic advice to fuel their growth and development.
