Expanding Access to Financial Services Through Data-Driven Underwriting
Nigerian credit data infrastructure company CreditChek has raised $600,000 in funding to extend its services into East Africa. The investment round was led by Janngo Capital with participation from Assembly Investors and new investors Vastly Valuable Ventures and Unipeg Capital.
This expansion marks a significant step for the startup as it seeks to address the continent’s $331 billion MSME financing gap by providing lenders with better tools to assess credit risk. CreditChek offers solutions like Credit Insight, which provides cross-border credit history data, and Income Insight, an AI-powered tool that analyzes financial statements.
“We’re building the infrastructure layer that enables lenders to access richer insights for faster, more inclusive, and reliable credit decisions,” said Kingsley Ibe, co-founder and CEO of CreditChek. The company claims loans underwritten with its data show 75% lower delinquency rates than traditional methods.
Strategic Expansion into East Africa
The startup has chosen Kenya, Uganda, and Rwanda as initial target markets due to their growing digital lending ecosystems. For example:
- Kenya’s licensed Digital Credit Providers disbursed $1 billion in loans by February 2026
- Uganda’s mobile money payments have grown annually by 25% since 2020/2021
- Rwanda achieved a financial inclusion rate of 96% in 2024
These markets represent an attractive combination of scale and opportunity for CreditChek to help lenders make more informed decisions through data-driven underwriting.
Addressing Key Challenges in African Lending
The funding will enable CreditChek to further develop its pay-as-you-go model, which already serves banks, fintechs, and microfinance institutions across Nigeria. The company processed over $60 million in credit applications for more than one million unique customer profiles last year and is currently profitable in Nigeria.