VC Firm HAVAÍC announces $500K investment in FinAccess to grow across Africa
Cape Town-headquartered venture capital (VC) firm HAVAÍC has announced a $500,000 investment in FinAccess.
The investment has been allocated from the VC firm’s US$20 million HAVAÍC Universum Core African Fund, which closed in May. It 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.
Headquartered in East Africa, FinAccess digitises community banks or SACCOs (Savings & Credit Cooperative Organisations) and farming co-operatives (“co-ops”) in the region. It was founded by CEO Barclay Paul Okari in 2017, and offers a market-leading, fully proprietary SaaS solution to SACCOs and co-ops.
“Financial inclusion for underserved Africans is at the heart of our business,” says Barclay. “Digitisation ultimately releases credit and other vital financial services so farmers can increase productivity and efficiency. We are very excited to partner with HAVAÍC and bring our software solutions to more African communities.”
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 and Director at FinAccess. “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.”
The announcement follows HAVAÍC’s recent investments in ShopEx and Talk360, joining the VC’s thriving portfolio of 18 early-stage, high-potential African technology companies.
HAVAÍC’s portfolio companies now serve a combined 5 million customers in over 180 countries across the globe. In 2021, the portfolio raised US$110 million in fresh capital and increased revenue by 160%.
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