Kuunda, a Tanzanian-based B2B fintech company specializing in embedded working-capital solutions, has raised $7.5 million in pre-Series A funding to accelerate its expansion across Africa and into the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, beginning with Egypt.
The funding round attracted a mix of returning investors, financial service providers, and venture capital firms, including Portugal Gateway Fund, Seedstars Africa Ventures, 4Di Capital, Accion Ventures, Nedbank, and E4E Africa. This capital injection will enable Kuunda to scale its operations, deepen partnerships, and introduce new financial products tailored to micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs).
Founded in 2018 by Andy Milne, Sam Brawerman, and Morne van der Westhuizen, Kuunda provides embedded credit solutions that integrate directly into digital payment platforms. Its technology enables access to short-term liquidity products such as airtime top-ups, mobile money float loans, stock financing, and merchant cash advances, all designed to support agents, merchants, and small businesses operating at the edge of the digital economy.
To date, Kuunda has facilitated over $3 billion in loans for banking partners and currently enables the disbursement of more than $100 million in credit monthly to over two million customers.
Kuunda is targeting Egypt as its entry point into the MENA region, drawn by the country’s robust mobile money adoption and a $115.7 billion point-of-sale (PoS) market, which is growing at an annual rate of 8.3%. The company plans to collaborate with local e-commerce platforms and PoS providers to embed lending products directly into their ecosystems.
Beyond Egypt, Kuunda aims to expand into Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Morocco, leveraging its capital-light, license-light model to scale efficiently across diverse regulatory environments.
Andy Milne, Kuunda’s co-founder and co-CEO, said:
We are unlocking access to finance for Africa’s productive class, the agents, merchants, and small businesses that are the backbone of these economies. Our solutions also help consumers build resilience by accessing credit when they need it most.
Bruce Nsereko-Lule, General Partner at Seedstars Africa Ventures, added:
Kuunda’s embedded working-capital products unlock liquidity exactly where commerce happens, at the edge.
Milne acknowledged the complexities of scaling across regions, citing challenges such as regulatory approvals, technical integration, and language and cultural differences. Despite these hurdles, Kuunda remains confident in its model, which minimizes capital and licensing requirements while maximizing scalability.
The company will face competition from established players like MNT Halan, Fawry, and Flend, the latter of which recently raised $3 million to expand SME financing. Kuunda believes its operational flexibility and proven success in diverse markets will give it a competitive edge.
Since its inception, Kuunda has expanded from Tanzania to Pakistan, Uganda, Malawi, Kenya, and Mozambique, partnering with major digital platforms such as M-Pesa Tanzania, Airtel Africa, and OneLoad Pakistan. Following its $2.25 million seed round in 2021, the company has continued to scale rapidly, positioning itself as a key enabler of financial inclusion across emerging markets.
