Kenya has a vibrant fintech ecosystem, driven by a strong mobile money infrastructure, an increasingly digital-savvy population, and a supportive regulatory environment.

In 2023, Kenya had 102 fintech companies, making up 15% of Africa’s fintech startups, according to Disrupt Africa’s Finnovating for Africa 2023 report. This ranks Kenya as the third-largest fintech market in the region, following Nigeria with 217 startups (32% market share) and South Africa with 140 startups (20.6% share).

Within Kenya’s burgeoning fintech landscape, several ventures have emerged as category leaders, recording substantial growth and garnering investor attention. Today, we look at some of Kenya’s most successful and fastest-growing fintech startups in 2024, highlighting their value propositions and recent achievements.

10 Top Fintech Startups in Kenya

Cellulant

Cellulant is a leading pan-African payments company that provides locally relevant and alternative payment methods to merchants on a global, regional, and local scale. The company operates Tingg, a digital payments platform designed to facilitate payments and collections across various methods and currencies. Tingg enhances the payment experience for businesses aiming to digitize their operations.

The platform connects thousands of businesses with 154 payment options across 35 countries, supporting 220 million consumers through a unified network that promotes interoperability across the continent. It integrates with over 350 banking institutions, mobile network operators (MNOs), and card services, enabling cross-border payments with a single application programming interface (API) integration.

Cellulant serves a wide range of sectors, including airlines, telecommunications, e-commerce, ride-hailing, retail, banking, and remittances.

Cellulant currently has an office presence in 18 African countries. The company has raised US$54.5 million in funding. In 2022, it intended to launch a US$100 million series D round of funding, but that plan was shelved.

M-Kopa

Founded in 2010, M-Kopa is a fintech platform that provides digital financial services to underbanked consumers across Africa. M-Kopa is known for its pay-as-you-go (PAYG) financing model, which allows customers to gradually build ownership of appliances. They start with an initial deposit and make flexible micro-payments.

M-Kopa’s fintech platform combines digital micropayments with the Internet-of-Things (IoT) to provide customers with access to productive assets. Its flexible credit model allows individuals to pay a small deposit and get instant access to everyday essentials, including smartphones, electric motorcycles and solar power systems, and then graduate to digital financial services such as loans and health insurance.

M-Kopa’s platform has provided over US$1 billion in credit. It has enabled 4 million customers to access smartphones, solar power, digital loans, and health insurance. It claims a direct sales force of over 30,000 agents across Kenya, Uganda, Nigeria, Ghana and South Africa.

M-Kopa has received significant recognition for its growth and impact, having been featured on the Financial Times’ (FT) “Africa’s Fastest Growing Companies” list for three consecutive years.

In May, M-Kopa secured a US$51 million loan from the US International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) to enhance digital connectivity in Kenya. Last year, the company raised over US$250 million in debt and equity funding to broaden its financial services across Sub-Saharan Africa.

Pesapal

Established in 2009, Pesapal is one of the largest payment gateways in Kenya. The company offers various payment products and services to individuals, businesses, and institutions, including online payments, point-of-sale (POS) payments, mobile payments, bill payments, and event ticketing. Its mission is to create an innovative financial services ecosystem built on integrity and exceptional value.

Currently, Pesapal processes up to 12 million transactions per month, collaborating with credit card, bank, and telecom partners. Since its inception, the company has supported tens of thousands of African businesses and entrepreneurs by facilitating online and in-person payments through mobile phones, credit cards, and bank transfers.

Pesapal is regulated by the Central Banks of Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and Rwanda. In August 2024, Pesapal’s subsidiary, Sabipay Technologies, obtained a Payments System Business license from the Bank of Zambia. This license enables Sabipay to offer a comprehensive range of payment solutions, including online payments, mobile money transactions, and card payments, thus expanding Pesapal’s footprint in Zambia.

Pezesha

Founded in 2016, Pezesha operates a comprehensive digital embedded finance platform that connects micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) with essential capital and financial services. This platform is designed to empower these businesses with accessible inventory and working capital, facilitating their growth and impact.

Pezesha has established itself as a prominent player in the embedded finance sector by partnering with over 20 value chain players, including major entities like Safaricom, Victory Farms, and Kyosk. These partnerships enable Pezesha to deliver integrated financial solutions that address the specific needs of SMEs and value chains.

In June 2024, Pezesha expanded its reach into Kenya’s mobile money market through a strategic partnership with Safaricom. The collaboration introduced Mkopo wa Pochi, a new credit product accessible via Safaricom’s M-Pesa business accounts. This offering complements Safaricom’s existing business wallet while enhancing the reach of Pezesha’s financial services.

In May 2024, Pezesha secured a US$500,000 grant from the DFC to improve its credit scoring technology. This followed a US$11 million pre-Series A funding round in 2022 led by Women’s World Banking Capital Partners II.

Workpay

Founded in 2016, Workpay provides end-to-end solutions for human resources (HR), payroll, compliance, benefits, and real-time payment disbursement. The company serves rapidly growing businesses across Africa. The company provides a comprehensive cloud-based platform that supports the entire employee lifecycle, from onboarding to offboarding. The platform includes features like payroll processing, time tracking, leave management, expense tracking, performance management, and employee benefits administration. It also offers employer of record (EOR) services.

Workpay claims its solutions can help companies increase their payroll proficiency by 10 times to ensure employees are compensated on time. Additionally, the company has assisted businesses in hiring employees who reside anywhere across Africa and beyond. It also offers benefits such as savings and pension plans, health insurance, and early wage access, among others.

Workpay says it has served more than 1,000 businesses across more 20 countries on the African continent. It says its revenue grew 1.5 times in the first six months of 2024 and is on course to double by the end of the year.

In August 2024, Workpay raised a US$5 million Series A funding to expand its financial services offerings, incorporate artificial intelligence (AI) into its performance management tools, and continue its expansion across Africa. The fundraising followed Workpay’s pre-series A round of US$2.7m in early 2023.

Kwara

Founded in 2018 in Kenya, Kwara is a fintech startup that modernizes credit unions by transforming them into digital banks.

The company’s technology makes credit union operations more efficient, allowing them to offer better services to their members.

Kwara’s journey began with a focus on Kenyan smallholder farmers and evolved into a comprehensive digital banking platform now serving more than 230 credit unions across four countries and over 200,000 end clients. In 2023, the company managed an annual transaction volume of EUR 1 billion.

The platform helps credit unions move from outdated paper-based systems to digital processes. It upgrades credit unions’ back-office operations, enabling them to attract new members and create innovative products.

Kwara offers a next-generation neobanking app that provides members of partner credit unions with access to additional services, including instant loans and third-party services like insurance. The company reports that the user base of its neobanking app grew 35-fold between 2022 and 2023. The app allows users to deposit money directly into their credit union accounts and track their finances and payments.

Kwara secured a US$7 million seed extension funding round in January 2023, following a US$4 million raise in December 2021, to support its digital transition for credit unions and expand its offerings.

Pula

Pula is a technology company focused on providing innovative agricultural insurance and digital solutions to smallholder farmers. Their services help farmers manage risks related to crop yields, improve farming practices, and increase their incomes over time.

Instead of selling insurance directly to farmers, Pula partners with over 100 organizations. These include charities, banks, governments, and agricultural input companies. Through these partnerships, Pula seamlessly integrates insurance into existing services, such as farm input costs or bundled credit offerings. As a result, this approach makes insurance more accessible and affordable for farmers who might otherwise struggle to obtain coverage.

Pula customizes each insurance product to meet the specific needs of both its clients and the beneficiary farmers. The company uses its digital actuary platform to analyze historical data on weather patterns, crop yields, losses, and agricultural inputs. This analysis helps design appropriate coverage and set accurate premiums. All insurance products are underwritten by renowned insurance and reinsurance companies.

Since its inception, Pula has provided insurance coverage to over 20 million farmers in 20+ countries, covering 10.64 million hectares. The company’s primary markets include Kenya, Nigeria, Zambia, Malawi, Mozambique, with ongoing expansions into Asia and Latin America. Pula manages its global operations from Switzerland, with coordination support provided by its service center in Kenya.

In April 2024, Pula closed a US$20 million Series B fundraising round to scale its operations and extend insurance access to more smallholder farmers in emerging markets over the next five years.

4G Capital

Founded in 2013, 4G Capital specializes in offering 100% unsecured working-capital loans. The company also provides enterprise training and digital solutions, primarily to micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs).

The company aims to bridge the funding gap for Africa’s MSMEs by offering tailored, accessible, and sustainable financial services. Its machine learning (ML) technology offers deep insights into client risk and affordability. This enables 4G Capital to maintain a high loan repayment rate without collateral or refinancing. This approach ensures that loans are extended only to viable businesses under terms tailored to their specific needs. As a result, clients increase their annual revenues by an average of 82%.

Since its inception, 4G Capital has provided over 3.5 million small working capital loans, totaling more than US$426 million. The company serves nearly 450,000 clients, of whom 65% are women, and 61% manage MSMEs in rural areas.

4G Capital offers financial services, customized business training, and credit guidance through mobile apps and an extensive branch network.

As a leader, 4G Capital has earned multiple awards, including a spot in the Global Top 10 for Financial Services. It was also recognized as a B Lab 2022 Best for The World. In 2023, the FT named 4G Capital one of Africa’s Fastest-Growing Companies, ranking it 43rd in Africa and 7th in Kenya.

4G Capital secured its last round of funding in March 2022, raising US$18.5 million in Series C funding to expand financial access for MSMEs in Kenya and Uganda.

Lipa Later

Founded in 2018, Lipa Later is a leading fintech platform offering consumer credit and e-commerce solutions for merchants. The company offers consumer credit, working capital, and e-commerce solutions that allow retailers to sell products in affordable monthly installments. This approach increases the purchasing power of their customers. It says that this approach allows its retail payments to increase their sales by up to 30%.

Lipa Later lets consumers buy a wide range of products, including phones, furniture, fashion, and home appliances. It offers flexible payment options spread over up to 12 months.

Lipa Later serves hundreds of thousands of customers and retail businesses across four countries. It has over 400,000 users and more than 35,000 merchant partners. In 2023, FT named the startup among Africa’s fastest-growing fintech companies. That same year, it acquired Sky.Garden, a software-as-a-service (SaaS) platform designed for mobile commerce in Africa. As a result, this acquisition expanded its merchant network.

In August 2024, Lipa Later closed a KES 500 million (US$3.9 million) privately placed debt issuance. The company plans to raise an additional KES 2 billion (US$15.5 million) in equity and debt to support its growth and expansion.

Turaco

Founded in 2019, Turaco is a leading insurtech company dedicated to providing simple and affordable insurance products to underserved customers through partnerships. Turaco designs its insurance products to be affordable, with premiums starting as low as US$1 per month. The company processes claims within three days, thanks to its tech-driven model.

Turaco partners with top tech-enabled and financing companies like M-Kopa, Airtel, One Acre Fund, and Vision Fund. Through these collaborations, Turaco distributes embedded insurance and designs white-labeled products. Using AI and API integrations with their partners, Turaco activates policies, automates payments, and processes claims in minutes. While traditional insurance companies often take weeks, Turaco provides a faster alternative.

Since its inception, Turaco has offered customized insurance coverage to over 1.3 million Africans. The company’s innovative approach has earned multiple accolades. Fast Company recognized it as one of the World’s Most Innovative Companies of 2024, awarding it the number four spot in the Europe, Middle East, and Africa region.

In 2023, Turaco expanded its operations by acquiring MicroEnsure Ghana, a pioneering microinsurer with over 15 years of experience in serving low-income Ghanaians. This acquisition expanded Turaco’s footprint to four African countries and increased its active policies by 25%.

Featured image credit: edited from freepik