Uganda

Uganda’s Tugende Raises Additional $3.6 Million Funding to Fuel SME Lending

Tugende, a technology enabled asset finance company in East Africa, announced that it has closed $3.6 million in additional equity financing, which is an extension of the firm’s Series A, for which the first close was announced in September 2020.

The round was led by Partech, with participation from Enza Capital and regionally based angel investors, bringing the total amount of equity capital raised for the Series A to $9.9 million.

The new funding will be deployed immediately by Tugende to support its growth and closure of new debt capital to fuel its portfolio growth in Uganda and Kenya.

Based in Uganda and launched in 2012, Tugende uses asset finance, technology, and a high touch customer support model to help micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) own income-generating assets.

Tugende reportedly serves more than 43,000 clients across Kenya and Uganda and its core asset finance packages include medical and life insurance, training, safety equipment and digital credit profiles in addition to affordable asset financing for SMEs.

Tidjane Deme

“Last year, in the middle of the pandemic, we decided to invest in Tugende. Tugende combines technology and strong operations to aid millions of professionals grow their businesses and drive economies forward.

We will support Michael and his team to build up the tech platform, fine-tune the model and expand in new markets.”

said Tidjane Deme, Partner at Partech.

Michael Wilkerson

“It’s an honor to bring on board additional top caliber investors.

Both Partech and Enza have great records of partnering with their investees to drive strong growth, particularly by accelerating technology and innovation and we are thrilled to be working together as we continue our journey.”

said Michael Wilkerson, CEO of Tugende.

Featured image credit: Tugende