Kenyan fintech company 4G Capital has raised $2 million in strategic funding to widen its lending footprint and support more small businesses across East Africa’s informal economy.
Kenyan fintech company 4G Capital has raised $2 million in strategic funding to widen its lending footprint and support more small businesses across East Africa’s informal economy.
The investment is expected to help the company deepen financial inclusion for entrepreneurs who have long been left outside the formal banking system.
Founded in 2013, 4G Capital has built its business around a mix of digital lending and hands-on customer support.
The company provides small working capital loans alongside tailored business training for micro enterprises, using a model that blends technology with field-based service.
The startup says it has disbursed more than $800 million in loans to over 755,000 customers in Kenya and Uganda since launch.
Across that period, it has issued 6.8 million loans and is now approaching the $1 billion lending mark, a milestone it expects to cross later this year.
The new capital came from GIF Growth, the growth-stage investment arm of the Global Innovation Fund. It will go toward strengthening 4G Capital’s touch-tech model, which combines digital lending infrastructure with in-person support from local field officers.
That approach is central to how the company delivers capital, financial literacy, and business guidance to customers who often have limited access to formal credit.
The funding will also support further work on the company’s digital systems and partnerships, to improve service delivery and help it scale while keeping its community-led approach intact.
Founder and executive chairman Wayne Hennessy-Barrett said the investment gives the company the right kind of capital to grow sustainably and expand access to working capital and training, especially for women and youth-led businesses.
A possible Series D round is also under consideration as 4G Capital looks ahead to its next phase of digital expansion.
From an African startup perspective, this is the kind of deal that says a lot about where investor confidence is headed. Backing is still going to businesses that can show both scale and real-world impact, and 4G Capital fits that pattern well.
Its strength is not only in lending volume, but in how it has adapted to the realities of informal trade, where trust, proximity, and practical support often matter as much as capital itself.
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