Lulalend will use its recent Series B investment to scale the firm’s business to tackle the estimated $20bn SME credit gap in South Africa. Lulalend offers a digital-first approach and a proprietary credit scoring algorithm for faster, simpler, and more transparent access to business funding. To date, it has disbursed billions of rand to SMEs across the country and has a waiting list of 20,000 businesses. The funds raised will be used to increase the size of its loan book, bring new solutions to market, and invest in technology and talent.

South African fintech Lulalend has raised $35m in a Series B funding round, led by Lightrock and featuring participation from DEG, Triodos Investment Management, Women’s World Banking Asset Management, IFC, and Quona Capital. The company provides loans and AI-driven cash flow management for small and medium-sized enterprises and is working with Women’s World Banking Asset Management to expand its product to women-owned SMEs. The funding will be used to invest in technology and talent to launch its new digital business banking proposition.