The International Finance Corporation estimates that 40% of formal micro, small and medium enterprises in developing countries have an unmet financing need of $5.2 trillion every year.
In Uganda, YC-backed Numida has provided more than $20 million in unsecured working capital to 27,000 micro and small businesses. Founded by Mina
Numida is also the first digital lender in the East African region to offer risk-based pricing, and business owners can access loans of up to USD 4,000.
CEO and co-founder Mina Shahid says that to provide a technology-based solution to the Ugandan population, Numida had to spend years perfecting its user interface and user experience.
He added that before launching in Uganda, the company had done test pilots in Ghana and considered Kenya, but chose Uganda because of its population and the market size of financially excluded SMEs.