A Sh350 million capital investment has been made in Banch International, a financial services firm with operations in Kenya, Nigeria, Tanzania. The investment would be used to further expand its services in Kenya. Even as the firm is currently testing the Mexican and Indian markets.
“The rapid growth of smartphone adoption, paired with the affinity for mobile money has put Kenya at the forefront of the financial technology explosion,” said Branch Head of Global Operations Daniel Szlapak. “We’re proud that our services have seen such high adoption here and are excited to continue to build best-in-class products for Kenyan customers.”
The capital investment was made by capital-raising advisory firm, Barium Capital and comes as Branch’s second (in Kenya) after it raised Sh200 million in 2017. Its high investment are understandable as the platform lends money to it users, hence should have a warchest of funds available at its disposal. In March, the company raised a $70 million Series B investment to expand its financial offerings to additional countries.
Speaking on the most recent investment made, Teresia Muthoni, CEO of Barium Capital says that, “Branch has built an absolutely first-rate operation. We have been impressed by what they’ve been able to achieve so far, and we are very happy to have secured a seat on the Branch express train for our investors.”
Since its launch in 2015, Branch has accumulated well over a million users, and have also disbursed more than $100 million, distributing more than 6 million loans. In Kenya, tens of thousands of loans are issued out on a daily and the number seem not to be dropping elsewhere. Branch expects to disburse over $250 million in 2018, in the countries it operates.
Asides offering the lending product which Branch does currently, there are future plans to expand into savings and payment products too.