Oze announces a new undisclosed investment round from Visa, DEG—the German DFI and others.
Three years ago, the startup announced a $3 million pre-series A round led by Speedinvest with participation from Africinvest. Both VC firms followed on in the new round. Africinvest’s investments into Oze have come from its Cathay AfricInvest Innovation Fund.
Oze launched in 2018 to provide loans and business management tools to SMEs in Africa. The Ghanaian fintech developed a Lending Management System (LMS) that it is now looking to scale with this funding.
CEO and Co-founder, Meghan McCormick, says, “This funding will accelerate our mission to empower small businesses across Africa. By scaling our Lending Management System, we can help more financial institutions unlock the potential of SMEs and drive financial inclusion at an unprecedented scale.”
Visa noticed the startup in 2023 after it selected them for its inaugural Africa fintech accelerator program.
See also: Visa backs Tunisia’s Konnect Network, a graduate of its First Accelerator Cohort
“Visa is committed to fostering innovation and financial inclusion across Africa, and Oze’s vision aligns perfectly with that mission. Their approach to enabling digital lending for underserved small businesses is transformative, and we are excited to partner with them to drive this change,” said Fabrice Konan, Country Manager, Visa Ghana.
Recently, the Milken Motsepe Prize for Fintech selected Oze as one of the finalists for its innovative approach to expanding access to capital and financial services for small businesses in emerging and frontier markets. As a result, the company is in the running for a $1 million prize.
DEG’s investment comes through its Up-Scaling Programme, which targets innovative business models in developing and emerging markets.
“Oze’s technology has the potential to unlock financial opportunities for millions of small businesses in Africa, creating sustainable development and fostering inclusive growth. We are proud to support their expansion,” said Dr Tobias Bidlingmaier, Head of Up-Scaling at DEG.
Oze’s plans
When Oze closed its last round, it had over 125,000 business customers in Ghana and Nigeria. Now, the startup operates in eight African markets through partnerships with pan-African banks like Ecobank.
Oze’s current operating markets are Ghana, Nigeria, Guinea, Benin, Rwanda, Madagascar, Zimbabwe, and Lesotho with plans to expand further and “build 100 million profitable small businesses across Africa”.
The two-sided platform provides SMEs with business management software for tracking sales, and expenses and collecting customer information. Oze analyzes this data to deliver recommendations, business education, and access to capital. To lenders, Oze gives them the tools to automate digital lending.
Visit: https://getoze.com/ to learn more about Oze.
