South African Fintech Lulalend Raises $35 Million to Expand Financial Support for SMEs

Lulalend, a South African fintech company that provides local small and medium-sized businesses with an artificial intelligence-based cash flow management tool and access to various financing solutions, announced that it has raised $35 million in Series B funding.

This type of financing, reserved for mature companies, will allow Lulalend to expand its operations in the South African market and commercialize new products to better serve the financing needs of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in South Africa.

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The $35 million round was led by impact investor Lightrock

“With this additional capital and the support of our investors, we are better positioned than ever to deliver on our vision of financial inclusion and act as a catalyst for growth in the SME sector […] I am very excited about the future of Lulalend and the positive impact we can have on South Africa’s SMEs, which we know are critical to the country’s economic development,” said Trevor Gosling, Lulalend’s co-founder, and CEO.

This additional funding obtained by Lulalend comes four years after the company, co-founded in 2014 by chemical engineer Neil Welman and accountant Trevor Gosling, raised $6.5 million. The investment, which at that time was led by the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and Quona capital, allowed Lulalend to strengthen its balance sheet and loan portfolio.

In this recent Series B investment, Lulalend says it is committed to ensuring that the $35 million “benefits the more than 2 million formal and informal SMEs in South Africa, whose financial needs remain largely unmet.” The fintech company will use some of these resources to meet the growing demand for access to working capital from many of its business clients. Lulalend will also accelerate the deployment of its new digital banking offer for SMEs.

The $35 million round was led by impact investor Lightrock, with additional investors including German development finance institution DEG, Triodos Investment Management and Women’s World Banking Asset Management, among others.

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(Featured image by kalhh via Pixabay)

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