Kenyan Startup Watu Secures USD 7 M Debt Facility From AHL Venture Partners

Watu, a Kenyan asset-financing company founded in 2015 by Andris Kaneps, has secured a USD 7 M debt facility from AHL Venture Partners to support working capital and expand its mobility and smartphone-financing portfolios across Africa.

Watu finances motorcycles and three-wheelers through its mobility business and smartphones through Watu Simu, with operations in Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, DRC, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Mexico and Brazil.

The company says it has originated more than 7 million loans since inception and has recently expanded into financing electric motorcycles in select African markets.

The non-dilutive facility builds on a financing relationship between Watu and AHL dating to 2022. It comes as AHL’s Africa Credit Fund I reaches USD 45.5 M in commitments toward a USD 70 M target.