Lidya
The Nigeria-based Lidya uses a tech-based credit algorithm to loan to small businesses without credit histories.
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Lidya raised $1.25 million in March of 2017. Accion Venture Lab led the round with participation from Newid Capital, Savannah fund and David Chan.
July 7, 2021
Alitheia Capital led the investment via its uMunthu Fund.
Currently, both European markets represent about 30% of Lidya disbursement volume while the overall default rate is less than 1%. Unlike most lending companies that raise debt financing to fund loans, Lydia uses equity to fund its loan book.
July 7, 2021
Alitheia Capital led the investment via its uMunthu Fund.
Currently, both European markets represent about 30% of Lidya disbursement volume while the overall default rate is less than 1%. Unlike most lending companies that raise debt financing to fund loans, Lydia uses equity to fund its loan book.
Founded in 2016 in Nigeria by Tunde Kehinde, Lidya has operations in New York, Lagos, Porto, Warsaw, and Prague. As of October 2019, they had provided approximately 10,000 loans in Nigeria.
Lidya uses an online scoring system to evaluate small business loan applicants. They distribute microloans as little as $150 with turnaround time of 24 hours.
In 2017, the company participated in the MasterCard Start Path Programme and raised $1.25 million from Accion Venture Lab. In 2018, the company raised $6.9 million in a series A round. Investors included Omidyar Network, Alitheia Capital, Accion Venture Lab, Bamboo Capital Partners, Newid Capital, and Tekton Ventures.
In 2019, the company started targeting lending in Eastern Europe, including Poland and the Czech Republic, in order to expand.
The company's co-founder and co-CEO, Tunde Kehinde, was interviewed by CNN and Techcrunch.
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