Kredete, a fintech founded in 2023 with a mission to help African immigrants build credit and access modern financial services, has secured a $22 million Series A funding round. The raise was led by AfricInvest through its Cathay AfricInvest Innovation Fund and Financial Inclusion Vehicle, alongside Partech, with participation from Polymorphic Capital.
The deal brings Kredete’s total funding to $24.75 million and will finance its expansion into Canada, the UK and selected European markets.
At the centre of Kredete’s work is a simple but overlooked reality, millions of Africans living abroad send money home each month, yet these financial commitments rarely translate into creditworthiness. Kredete’s technology seeks to change that. By combining remittances with a credit-building engine, users can send money to more than 30 African countries while simultaneously improving their credit history in the US and beyond.
Founded by serial entrepreneur Adeola Adedewe, the company has grown rapidly by addressing two pain points at once: the high cost of cross-border transfers and the lack of credit access for “thin-file” or “no-file” immigrants excluded from traditional systems. Its platform also offers businesses an API-based infrastructure to make secure, real-time and low-cost payouts into Africa a service increasingly valuable for global firms engaged with the continent’s fast-growing digital economy.
The fresh capital will accelerate the rollout of new services. Kredete is introducing rent reporting, credit-linked savings plans and responsible goal-based loans, specifically designed to give newcomers a chance to build financial track records. Central to this expansion is Africa’s first stablecoin-backed credit card, which will be launched across 41 African countries.
It promises users seamless spending, the ability to build credit and protection against expensive foreign exchange fees. Alongside this, the company is preparing to launch USD and EUR interest-bearing accounts, offering Africans a way to preserve value, earn yield and hedge against currency volatility.
Adedewe frames the vision clearly: “If you support your family financially, that should count toward your creditworthiness. We’re building a system that rewards financial responsibility across borders. This raise is about scaling that infrastructure globally and making sure that the millions of Africans abroad are finally seen, scored, and served.”
Investors say the company’s appeal lies in its ability to address systemic challenges while scaling fast. “Kredete has been focusing on serving the African diaspora while addressing bottlenecks faced by payment operators moving money in and out of Africa,” said Khaled Ben Jilani, Senior Partner at AfricInvest. “It is one of those extremely rare start-ups that has managed to solve several problems at once — both for African consumers and for payments companies.”
For Partech, which has also backed fintech leaders such as Wave and TradeDepot, the company represents the next frontier.
“Adeola and his team are driving transformative innovation in remittances and cross-border payments,” said Lewam Kefela, Principal at Partech. “Their work enables better financial services for the African diaspora and unlocks wider opportunities across the ecosystem.”
Kredete’s growth trajectory is already noteworthy. Since launch, it has reached more than 700,000 monthly users, facilitated $500 million in remittances and helped raise users’ US credit scores by an average of 58 points. Its mission dovetails with global development priorities, including the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals on decent work and reduced inequalities.
As it scales, the company is building what it calls “the continent’s largest aggregation layer of banks and wallets,” giving businesses a single access point for payouts across Africa. By pairing this infrastructure with consumer-facing credit products, Kredete aims to redefine how Africans everywhere send, spend, save and build financial credibility.
For many in the diaspora, the promise is both practical and aspirational: financial inclusion that travels across borders. For investors, it signals that African entrepreneurship is no longer about plugging gaps it is about creating financial systems that recognise, reward and scale the resilience of African families worldwide.
