Ghanaian fintech startup, OZÉ, has closed a $3,000,000 pre-Series A round to strengthen its mission of providing digital recordkeeping tools with embedded finance products for small and medium businesses.
The round, which follows the $700,000 seed funding secured by OZÉ last year, was led by European early-stage VC, Speedinvest. Other investors included Cathay AfricInvest Innovation Fund, Savannah Capital and other angel investors.
OZÉ’s products and services enable SMEs make data-driven decisions and improve their overall performance, bringing them to a state of investment readiness and ensuring the local economy attains global competitiveness.
OZÉ was founded by the company’s CEO Meghan McCormick and COO, Dave Emnett in 2018 following a series of travels McCormick made across Africa, where she noticed the challenges small businesses face and their dire need for financial and recordkeeping tools to thrive.
The company has a client base of more than 125,000 business owners in Ghana and Nigeria. Traditionally these businesses have operated as brick-and-mortar enterprises running on pen-and-paper. Now, as they look to build an online presence, demand for technology and financial products to digitize businesses is increasing.
OZÉ’s business app helps these medium and small businesses collate sales, expenses, payables, receivables and customer data. This data is analyzed to provide businesses with support ranging from tailored recommendations, reports through daily business tips, monthly business seminars and access to an on-demand business coach.
Based on how businesses use the platform, OZÉ generates performance and behavioural data, which it uses to predict their credit risks and create alternative credit scores. The startup partners with financial institutions such as banks and fintechs, to lend to businesses that need loans.
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