Nigerian fintech Lidya raises $8.3M to scale lending operations

Lidya, a Nigerian fintech company that provides digital lending solutions, has concluded its US$8.3m pre-series B funding round. 

This latest round was led by Alitheia Capital through its uMunthu Fund. Also part of the round were Accion Venture Lab, Bamboo Capital Partners, and Flourish Ventures.

Lidya’s total funding to date stands at US$16.5m following two earlier US$1.3m and US$6.9m seed and Series A rounds respectively in 2017 and 2018. 

The most recent funding will be used by Lidya to expand and scale its lending offerings to reach more SMEs in the markets and countries where its service is currently available.

Lidya, the brainchild of Nigerian Tunde Kehinde and his co-founder Ercin Eksin, came about after the duo discovered the severity of the need SMEs have to access loans to grow and scale their businesses. 

This need became clear at their previous workplaces in the eCommerce industry where they worked with merchants and saw up-close the struggle small businesses have with acquiring the needed capital.

This is why Lidya is positioned as a digital lending platform, with SMEs as a high priority target. Via Lidya’s platform, SMEs may register and apply for loans anything from US$500 to US$50,000. 

Lidya also operates with a quick, data-driven, and thorough evaluation system which ensures that applicants can know the decision regarding their application 24hours later.