DFS Lab

Digital Financial Services Innovation Lab (DFS Lab) is an early-stage incubator that supports high potential entrepreneurs refine, grow and launch fintech businesses in developing countries. Focused on empowering communities in sub-Saharan Africa and South East Asia, DFS Lab delivers mentorship and strategic counsel to early-stage start-ups pioneering transformative business models that empower the poorest, profitably, and at scale. We give the highest quality entrepreneurs access to extensive networks and relevant, world-class advice on how to build successful ventures that change the way low-income consumers interact with digital financial services.

Joseph Benson-Aruna

Partner

Stephen Deng

Partner

Jake Kendall

Founder and Director

38 past transactions

Stable Sea

Seed Round in 2025
Stable Sea provides seamless, compliant, cost-effective stablecoin offramping solutions, enabling businesses to bridge the gap between digital and traditional finance and unlock new opportunities.

Chargel

Seed Round in 2023
Chargel is a freight brokerage platform that facilitates connections between shippers and carriers, enabling efficient matching of available loads. The platform is designed to help carriers identify freight opportunities at any time, thereby minimizing empty miles and maximizing revenue. Additionally, Chargel offers value-added services, including GPS plotters, fuel purchasing assistance at reduced rates, and support for repairs in case of breakdowns. This approach not only allows shippers to access transportation solutions at competitive prices but also helps carriers enhance their operational efficiency and profitability.

Payday

Seed Round in 2023
Payday is a fintech platform that provides global payment solutions such as virtual mastercards and payments for foreign employees. Payday can also be used to handle payroll, taxes, and compliance by foreign companies with African employees. Payday was established on May 1, 2021 in Vancouver, British Columbia by Favour Ori.

Terraa

Pre Seed Round in 2023
Terraa is a B2B distribution platform in Moroccan.

Cutstruct

Pre Seed Round in 2022
Cutstruct operates a technology-driven platform designed to enhance the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of construction projects. The platform serves various construction needs, including price discovery and comparison of materials, optimized procurement processes, and comprehensive project monitoring and management. By facilitating the purchasing of materials, hiring of labor, and overseeing of project logistics, Cutstruct aims to empower construction stakeholders to execute their projects with greater confidence and value. The company's applications are geared towards maximizing the potential of every investment in construction, making it easier for individuals and businesses to navigate the building process.

Bumpa

Seed Round in 2022
Bumpa is a developer of a digital commerce infrastructure platform aimed at transforming the e-commerce landscape for Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) across Africa. The platform provides a user-friendly mobile application that enables small business owners to establish an online presence, showcase their products, and securely process payments. Additionally, Bumpa offers features for recording sales data, issuing professional invoices and receipts, and accessing comprehensive financial reports. By equipping sellers with essential tools for managing incoming orders and facilitating digital expansion, Bumpa empowers African entrepreneurs to efficiently start, manage, and grow their businesses from their mobile phones.

Tanda

Seed Round in 2022
Tanda is a fintech startup aimed at enhancing access to essential digital financial services for micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) across Africa. The company focuses on micro-retailers, who play a vital role in local economies by supplying over 70% of essential goods, yet face significant challenges in accessing credit. Tanda enables these retailers to obtain inventory credit and become access points for services such as airtime, utility payments, mobile banking, and insurance, thereby helping to drive financial inclusion. Additionally, micro-retailers can diversify their income streams by earning commissions from transactions related to these services. By addressing the financing gap and providing essential tools, Tanda seeks to empower low-income MSMEs and support their growth within the community.

Logistics Hub

Pre Seed Round in 2022
Logistics Hub specializes in providing delivery solutions tailored for businesses, focusing on the last-mile delivery sector in Africa. The company has developed a platform that allows businesses to schedule deliveries, access riders, and monitor shipments in real-time. Their services encompass on-demand delivery for e-commerce, inter-state deliveries, and imports. By creating and assigning tasks, the platform effectively manages both riders and customers, while also offering analytics to streamline workflow and improve customer satisfaction. Through these capabilities, Logistics Hub aims to enhance the delivery management experience for logistics companies and their clients.

Pastel

Seed Round in 2022
Pastel is a company focused on supporting African businesses by providing financial applications that enhance operational efficiency. It offers various tools, including quick receipt management, bookkeeping solutions, and financing options tailored for small businesses in developing countries. By leveraging artificial intelligence and data science, Pastel develops digital tools that empower clients to improve their financial accountability and streamline their business processes. The company's mission is to unlock the potential of these businesses, enabling them to thrive in a competitive landscape.

Terminal

Seed Round in 2022
Terminal Africa operates a delivery aggregator platform that facilitates the efficient sending and receiving of products globally. By partnering with various local and international couriers, the company streamlines the delivery process. When a delivery request is made, Terminal Africa directs the information to the chosen courier of the sender or receiver, allowing for quick and reliable service. In addition to logistics, the company also focuses on providing eCommerce and payment solutions for entrepreneurs, ensuring a stress-free experience in managing their business needs.

Tushop

Pre Seed Round in 2022
Tushop is a community group buying platform that enables members to sell groceries within their social networks and communities. By aggregating demand for groceries, Tushop allows users to access wholesale prices, making it more affordable for them to purchase essential items. The platform is designed to facilitate convenient delivery to end-customers, ensuring that communities receive regular support and access to necessary goods. Through its innovative approach, Tushop aims to enhance the livelihoods of community members across the country.

Caantin

Seed Round in 2022
Caantin is focused on enhancing the contribution of restaurants to the global economy by providing a comprehensive platform tailored for the African food industry. Their solution facilitates food supply procurement, short-term credit access, and overall business management for restaurants. By developing vendor management and payments software, Caantin simplifies onboarding and operations, which improves customer satisfaction and business performance. The platform streamlines procurement processes, supplier payments, and inventory financing, while also offering payment reminders and a collection system for accounts receivable. This enables clients to obtain necessary products at competitive prices, ultimately supporting the growth of food businesses across Africa.

NALA

Seed Round in 2022
NALA Incorporation Company Limited is a FinTech firm based in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, founded in 2017. The company develops a mobile payments application that facilitates various financial transactions, including peer-to-peer payments, bill payments, and airtime top-ups, all without the need for an internet connection. NALA's platform is designed to enhance financial inclusion by offering services that include money transfers, budgeting tools, and transaction tracking. The application also features advanced security measures such as bank-grade encryption and multi-factor authentication, ensuring safe and reliable transactions, particularly in areas with limited internet access. Through its services, NALA aims to support mobile money transfers for Africans worldwide, promoting seamless international payments and digital financial services.

SendChamp

Angel Round in 2021
Messagebird For Africa: Sendchamp provides Communication APIs & CRM for developers & businesses to reach their customers via different messaging channels such as SMS, Email, Voice, Whatsapp, and other digital messaging channels. Our APIs and No code tools help businesses in Africa from the stage of Customer Onboarding, Customer Engagement, Customer Service & Customer Retention.

Tushop

Pre Seed Round in 2021
Tushop is a community group buying platform that enables members to sell groceries within their social networks and communities. By aggregating demand for groceries, Tushop allows users to access wholesale prices, making it more affordable for them to purchase essential items. The platform is designed to facilitate convenient delivery to end-customers, ensuring that communities receive regular support and access to necessary goods. Through its innovative approach, Tushop aims to enhance the livelihoods of community members across the country.

PesaKit

Pre Seed Round in 2021
PesaKit is an Artificial Intelligence (AI) powered virtual assistant for mobile money agents. It is a provider of a software application designed to digitize distribution and access channels for mobile money and digital finance. Its software offers an artificial intelligence-based API driven interface which performs as a virtual assistant for mobile money agents that enables users to manage liquidity and conversion process easily. PesaKit was established in 2018 and is headquartered in Nairobi, Kenya.

Bumpa

Pre Seed Round in 2021
Bumpa is a developer of a digital commerce infrastructure platform aimed at transforming the e-commerce landscape for Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) across Africa. The platform provides a user-friendly mobile application that enables small business owners to establish an online presence, showcase their products, and securely process payments. Additionally, Bumpa offers features for recording sales data, issuing professional invoices and receipts, and accessing comprehensive financial reports. By equipping sellers with essential tools for managing incoming orders and facilitating digital expansion, Bumpa empowers African entrepreneurs to efficiently start, manage, and grow their businesses from their mobile phones.

Ando Foods

Pre Seed Round in 2021
The ANDO platform offers an end-to-end technology stack that begins when an order is placed and ends when an order is delivered and guest feedback is collected. The company's technologically advanced commercial kitchens ensure that all food is produced while keeping very sensitive prep times and quality requirements in mind.

GoBEBA

Pre Seed Round in 2021
GoBEBA is a quick-commerce retailer specializing in essential household goods and groceries, including bulk utilities such as LPG gas and drinking water. The company operates a network of micro-fulfillment centers, also known as dark stores, which facilitate rapid order fulfillment. GoBEBA offers a multi-channel ordering system supported by an AI-driven logistics and inventory management platform, enabling delivery within 30 minutes for daily essentials. Its business model connects local merchants with consumers and logistics providers through a curated digital marketplace, providing a wide range of services such as grocery shopping, food delivery, and access to essential commodities at competitive prices.

Rivy

Pre Seed Round in 2021
Rivy is making it easier to finance small and medium sized businesses in Africa. There is a need for financing of $158 bn for SMEs in Nigeria alone. To start, Rivy o helps SMEs access and spend lender capital effectively. During their first full operational year in 2020, the Rivy o co--founders leveraged their domain expertise and founding experience to beat their 2020 goal by 50%.

Caantin

Pre Seed Round in 2021
Caantin is focused on enhancing the contribution of restaurants to the global economy by providing a comprehensive platform tailored for the African food industry. Their solution facilitates food supply procurement, short-term credit access, and overall business management for restaurants. By developing vendor management and payments software, Caantin simplifies onboarding and operations, which improves customer satisfaction and business performance. The platform streamlines procurement processes, supplier payments, and inventory financing, while also offering payment reminders and a collection system for accounts receivable. This enables clients to obtain necessary products at competitive prices, ultimately supporting the growth of food businesses across Africa.

Boost Technology

Funding Round in 2021
Boost Technology provides financial B2B commerce platforms. The company provide services that create a tipping point and services that listen, learn, build, and iterate on a shared platform. Boost assists distributors in the trillion-dollar informal economy. Boost is a single, adaptable platform that allows clients to be served in numerous languages and currencies, with multiple catalogues and prices available across channels.

ORDA

Pre Seed Round in 2021
ORDA is a cloud-based restaurant operating system built for African chefs and food business owners. ORDA's ePos, integrations, and lending solutions enable Africa’s millions of food business owners to scale and grow their business. The company was founded in 2020 and is based in Lagos, Nigeria.

ORDA

Seed Round in 2021
ORDA is a cloud-based restaurant operating system built for African chefs and food business owners. ORDA's ePos, integrations, and lending solutions enable Africa’s millions of food business owners to scale and grow their business. The company was founded in 2020 and is based in Lagos, Nigeria.

Side

Non Equity Assistance in 2021
Side is an e-commerce distribution channel that leverages the power of “community” or “group buying” to provide goods to end customers more cheaply.

GoBEBA

Pre Seed Round in 2021
GoBEBA is a quick-commerce retailer specializing in essential household goods and groceries, including bulk utilities such as LPG gas and drinking water. The company operates a network of micro-fulfillment centers, also known as dark stores, which facilitate rapid order fulfillment. GoBEBA offers a multi-channel ordering system supported by an AI-driven logistics and inventory management platform, enabling delivery within 30 minutes for daily essentials. Its business model connects local merchants with consumers and logistics providers through a curated digital marketplace, providing a wide range of services such as grocery shopping, food delivery, and access to essential commodities at competitive prices.

Tanda

Venture Round in 2021
Tanda is a fintech startup aimed at enhancing access to essential digital financial services for micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) across Africa. The company focuses on micro-retailers, who play a vital role in local economies by supplying over 70% of essential goods, yet face significant challenges in accessing credit. Tanda enables these retailers to obtain inventory credit and become access points for services such as airtime, utility payments, mobile banking, and insurance, thereby helping to drive financial inclusion. Additionally, micro-retailers can diversify their income streams by earning commissions from transactions related to these services. By addressing the financing gap and providing essential tools, Tanda seeks to empower low-income MSMEs and support their growth within the community.

Koa

Pre Seed Round in 2020
Koa is a savings and financial services platform that offers technology solutions and financial services applications through its API. Co-founded by Alexis Roman and Delila Kidanu, the company specializes in embedding financial services, effectively delivering savings-as-a-service to its clients.

TaniHub

Series A in 2019
TaniHub is a B2B agriculture marketplace based in Indonesia that connects farmers with businesses in the food, hotel, restaurant, and catering sectors. Established in 2015 by co-founders Ivan Arie Sustiawan, Eka Pamitra, Michael Sugianto, Miftahul Choiri, Wahyu Setyo Nugroho, Wawan B. Setyawan, and William Setiawan, TaniHub provides an e-commerce platform for agricultural products. The platform empowers local farmers by facilitating market access and financial opportunities, allowing them to sell their crops to individuals and micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) across various regions.

NALA

Seed Round in 2019
NALA Incorporation Company Limited is a FinTech firm based in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, founded in 2017. The company develops a mobile payments application that facilitates various financial transactions, including peer-to-peer payments, bill payments, and airtime top-ups, all without the need for an internet connection. NALA's platform is designed to enhance financial inclusion by offering services that include money transfers, budgeting tools, and transaction tracking. The application also features advanced security measures such as bank-grade encryption and multi-factor authentication, ensuring safe and reliable transactions, particularly in areas with limited internet access. Through its services, NALA aims to support mobile money transfers for Africans worldwide, promoting seamless international payments and digital financial services.

Veridium

Grant in 2018
Veridium Ltd, established in 2015 and based in Quincy, Massachusetts, specializes in biometric authentication solutions. The company has developed the VeridiumID platform, which integrates biometric capabilities into mobile applications through a front-end software development kit (SDK). Additionally, Veridium offers VeridiumAD, an enterprise solution that enhances Microsoft Active Directory and Azure AD with biometric authentication. Their 4 Fingers TouchlessID system provides multi-finger contactless biometric authentication for unmodified smartphones, while the 4 Fingers Export SDK facilitates fingerprint biometrics capture. Veridium positions itself as a leader in passwordless authentication, utilizing AI-driven behavioral biometrics to support multi-factor authentication and digital ID verification, thereby enhancing security for both employees and clients.

NALA

Pre Seed Round in 2018
NALA Incorporation Company Limited is a FinTech firm based in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, founded in 2017. The company develops a mobile payments application that facilitates various financial transactions, including peer-to-peer payments, bill payments, and airtime top-ups, all without the need for an internet connection. NALA's platform is designed to enhance financial inclusion by offering services that include money transfers, budgeting tools, and transaction tracking. The application also features advanced security measures such as bank-grade encryption and multi-factor authentication, ensuring safe and reliable transactions, particularly in areas with limited internet access. Through its services, NALA aims to support mobile money transfers for Africans worldwide, promoting seamless international payments and digital financial services.

Nobuntu

Seed Round in 2018
Nobuntu is a company focused on designing and distributing community-oriented savings products aimed at assisting South Africans in preparing for retirement. Founded with the mission to ensure that all individuals can age comfortably, Nobuntu seeks to revolutionize the retirement savings landscape in South Africa. The company's offerings include a pension savings product and funeral cover, which are intended to provide financial security for employees and their families. Through these initiatives, Nobuntu aims to create accessible savings solutions that empower individuals, regardless of their planning timeline, to secure a stable and comfortable future.

Cherehani Africa

Seed Round in 2018
Cherehani Africa is transforming the micro finance market by leveraging proprietary technology to deploy capital at a 3X efficiency. The business model combines technology and human touch to provide credit to women micro-entrepreneurs in rural and underserved areas. The model is built on top of the proven micro-savings groups structures. Cherehani also provides market information and financial education to its customers. The suite of information is disseminated via a proprietary web based platform and augmented by in-person field visits.

Inclusive Financial Technologies

Non Equity Assistance in 2017
Inclusive Financial Technologies is a Ghana-based company founded in 2016 that develops a mobile application designed to assist financial institutions in reaching customers through digital channels, including USSD and the web. The company specializes in ID verification and multi-factor authentication in Sub-Saharan Africa, offering a single application programming interface (API) for user onboarding, compliance with Know Your Customer (KYC) and Anti-Money Laundering (AML) regulations, fraud detection, and document authentication. By leveraging machine learning, forensics, imaging, and voice capture technologies, Inclusive Financial Technologies facilitates the creation of thin file identities, thereby connecting unbanked Africans to the global economy. Its product suite includes Smart Bank, Inclusive ID, and iCapture.

Pezesha

Angel Round in 2016
Pezesha is a digital financial marketplace based in Nairobi, Kenya, that connects small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) to various financing options, including working capital, float financing, and LPO financing. Founded in 2016, Pezesha aims to enhance access to affordable credit for micro-businesses by leveraging credit and data analytics to link lenders with low-income borrowers. The platform facilitates a shared economy by converging lending and other financial services, thereby enabling underserved SMBs to participate in the formal financial system. Through its innovative approach, Pezesha seeks to empower businesses and improve their growth potential by providing essential financial resources.

Serv'd

Seed Round in 2016
Serv'd is an impact enterprise focused on enhancing financial inclusion and economic empowerment for domestic help workers, including maids, cooks, nannies, and drivers. By leveraging technology, Serv'd aims to organize the largely unregulated sector, ensuring that workers receive fair treatment and dignity in their professional lives. The company has developed a payment management application that simplifies the processes of payment, attendance, and contract terms for contract workers. This application facilitates a smoother experience for workers, allowing them to manage their earnings and working hours more effectively. Through its innovative approach, Serv'd seeks to bring structure and support to an essential yet often overlooked segment of the workforce.
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