PRESS RELEASE

Asante closes the first tranche of $7.5m Series A funding to bridge the gap in MSME lending in Africa

Nairobi, 19 October 2021—Asante Financial Services Group (“Asante”) announces $7.5 million Series A investment anchored by Goodwell Investments with participation by other investors including Sorenson Impact Foundation and Forsage Holdings.

Asante is a high-impact fintech focused on supporting the growth of African Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs). The Series A investment enables Asante to scale its credit offerings to the underserved segment of MSMEs in Kenya and Uganda, and expand to Nigeria and Rwanda.

“We are delighted to welcome our new investors including Goodwell, Sorenson and Forsage in our inaugural institutional fundraise. Together, we will advance access to finance, and financial independence and wellbeing for the millions of small businesses on the continent,” said Chidi Okpala, Founding CEO of Asante.

MSMEs have a significant impact on the economies of most countries, especially emerging markets, representing 90% of all businesses, 66% of all jobs created and 50% of the world’s GDP. Yet according to the World Bank, the annual SME credit gap in Sub Saharan Africa is about US$330 billion. MSMEs are often neglected by lenders due to a combination of factors. These include the high cost of customer acquisition and due diligence, insufficient data availability for accurate credit assessments, lack of collaterals, uncertain customer lifetime values, and the high costs of distribution and servicing. There is a large opportunity for lenders who are able to overcome these challenges.

Asante differentiates itself with its ecosystem-based digital lending platform that uses alternative data and a proprietary AI loan decisioning management system to approve loans to MSMEs. The company works directly with ecosystem channel partners to collect conventional and non-conventional MSME data, with the prior consent of the clients. Its channel partners include Africa’s largest telcos, mobile-based marketplaces, airlines, retailers, payment processors, insurance companies, smartphone phone OEMs and large FMCGs. This significantly reduces the cost of customer acquisition and due diligence, while providing sufficient alternative data for credit underwriting.

As a result, Asante is in a strong position to address the credit gap and accelerate its rollout. Asante has executed over 16 strategic corporate channel partnerships, giving Asante direct access to 2m MSMEs with a monthly lending opportunity in excess of US$200 million.

“With over 650% growth in lending activities since Q1 2021 and a sustained average all-in default rate of 2.5%, Asante is well-positioned to fast track scale and deepen our impact in our operating markets. Our bold post-COVID response is helping small businesses recover, reconstruct and reposition for growth while ensuring that thousands of jobs are safeguarded. We look forward to a round extension very early in the new year to support the solid growth momentum,” notes Okpala.

“MSMEs—particularly those in the informal sector—are being held back by a lack of responsible lending from traditional financial services providers who are unable to run accurate credit checks and offer profitable loans to this segment of the market. Asante has solved these problems through its innovative digital platform and ecosystem approach. The company’s success to date is proof that the model works, and we are very confident that the business will scale quickly and successfully with this round of funding,” explains Bitta Wycliffe, Senior Investment Associate at Goodwell Investments.

“This is the 20th investment by Goodwell Investments’ uMunthu fund, of which 50% is invested in financial inclusion. Asante is a perfect fit and a great addition to our portfolio of other socially responsible financial services providers.”

Asante is a strategic partner of Mastercard for digital lending in Africa and the only African fintech in a class of 6 scaling start-ups selected in May 2021 to join the award-winning Mastercard Start Path program.

Asante is currently piloting its Business Lending Platform, to further extend its lending and other services to small business clients with essential tools like Business Financial Manager, Management Toolkit and Tax Advisory to assist them to operate more efficiently while infusing resilience into their operations. Via the platform, Asante will also be able to offer insurance, payments, and other products to its clients.

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About Asante Financial Services:  Asante Financial Services Group is a high impact digital financial services company primarily focused on Micro, Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (MSMEs) in Sub-Saharan Africa. Incorporated in Mauritius, and commenced operations in 2018, Asante Financial Services Group has grown exponentially with operations in Kenya and Uganda with active plans to be in 12 countries by 2025. For more information, visit www.asantefinancegroup.com or follow us on Twitter @group_asante

About Goodwell Investments:  Goodwell Investments is a pioneering impact investment firm focused on inclusive growth in sectors providing basic goods and services and income generation opportunities to underserved communities in Africa and India. The firm provides early-stage equity to high growth, high impact businesses. With teams in Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa and The Netherlands, and a track record of over ten years, Goodwell demonstrates the ability to simultaneously deliver powerful social impact and strong financial returns. For more information, visit www.goodwell.nl or follow us on Twitter @GoodwellInvest

About Sorenson Impact Foundation: The Sorenson Impact Foundation is a private US foundation that invests in companies and funds that are creating solutions for the world’s most pressing issues. Sorenson’s assets are 100% invested in mission-oriented investments that support thematic impact areas such as financial inclusion, health, sanitation, education and workforce development. For more information, visit https://sorensonimpactfoundation.org/ or follow us on Twitter @Sorenson_Impact

About Forsage Holdings: Forsage Holdings is a family office based in Dublin, Ireland. It focuses on investments into the fintech, renewables & biotech sectors in high growth markets. For more information, visit www.forsageholdings.com