Kenyan BNPL startup Lipa Later Raises $12M, Eyes More African Markets

Lipa Later, the buy now pay later (BNPL) company operating in Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda and Nigeria, has raised $12 million from a group of investors, KBC reported.

The funding round, a mix of equity and debt, included backing from Cauris Finance, Lateral Frontiers Ventures, GreenHouse Capital, SOSV IV LLC, Sayani Investments and Axian Financial Services.

“We are excited to be working with our investors as we look to grow and expand to more markets in Africa,” said Eric Muli, Lipa Later’s co-founder and CEO, in a statement. “In the next 12 months, we are looking to grow and double our presence in the existing markets, even as we open in three to five new markets in Africa.”

The infusion of cash will help the company grow within its existing markets and expand to Ghana and Tanzania, Muli said. In addition, it will allow the BNPL services to boost its pipeline of consumers supporting Lipa’s exclusive partnerships with merchants in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Launched in Kenya in 2018, Lipa Later has seized on the rapidly growing eCommerce presence in Africa and built a BNPL option that allows consumers to pay for products in monthly installments.

New research by PYMNTS and Sezzle in the Buy Now, Pay Later Tracker for December reveals that BNPL usage grew to one-third of overall consumers, and saw a near-doubling of consumer awareness in citing it as a preferred payment method for the holiday season.

While BNPL is gaining in popularity, researchers concluded, credit and debit cards still dominate consumers’ head space, accounting for a combined 73% share of the payment preference survey. The survey also found that credit card use fell slightly to 38.5% last year, down from 39.4% in 2020.

Read more: No Slowdown in Sight for Surging BNPL as Consumers Want it, Retailers Need It