Cape Town-based venture capital (VC) firm HAVAÍC has invested an undisclosed amount of funding into Kenyan agency banking start-up Tanda.
This comes after the VC firm noted the coming months show promising signs of continued growth and investment in African technology start-ups.
In a statement, HAVAÍC says Tanda will use the funding to expand its operations regionally, after it proved the viability of the interoperable agent and merchant model in Kenya.
Tanda’s platform and network supports 58 banks and saccos (savings and credit co-operative societies), four telecoms, 18 billers, 12 000 merchants and agents, and has served over 300 000 unique customers, all of which have processed millions of transactions to date.
Commenting on the decision to invest in Tanda, HAVAÍC partner Rob Heath says: “Tanda is solving one part of the very deep and complex problem of financial inclusion that is not only Kenyan, but a problem across all emerging and undeveloped markets. HAVAÍC believes the wider Tanda team have the right mix of skills, technical expertise, geographic market knowledge and real-world experience to understand the challenges facing those left behind in the financial ecosystem.”
HAVAÍC is an established investment and advisory firm that specialises in early-stage, high-growth technology businesses with proven concepts and global prospects. The company also provides corporate advisory and capital-raising services to emerging, internationally scalable businesses.
It counts property firm Instant Property, safety start-up Aura and health mobile app Vula Mobile, and US-based e-mail productivity software firm Sortd among some of the start-ups it has invested in.
The VC firm states Tanda has also secured funding from Zedcrest Capital, DFS Lab, Victor Asemota and three other investors, noting it has secured key strategic partnerships with Mastercard and Interswitch, which will further accelerate its growth.
Says Geoffrey Mulei, CEO of Tanda: “Our team will continue to run aggressive agent and customer acquisition drives across the region, while securing more strategic partnerships in these new markets to further support Tanda’s growth and strategy as we pursue our goal of digitising payments across Africa. Tanda is excited to be at the forefront of the rapid shift towards innovative digital-first solutions, especially in markets that are ripe for disruption.”
Heath adds that Tanda’s founding team have a successful history of building agency networks from the ground up and a background in managing family micro-retail operations. “This knowledge was shown not in flashy presentations and buzzwords, but with real growth on the ground and solid corporate partnerships, where other early-stage businesses would normally struggle to get a meeting.”
Tanda has now set its sights on growing its Kenyan footprint to 100 000 agents and merchants, and an expansion to Uganda, Tanzania and Rwanda within the next 24 months.
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