Kenyan agency banking as a service provider Tanda is expanding its operations regionally after closing a seed funding round last month.

Founded in 2018, Tanda allows shop owners to access inventory on credit, and also become access points for essential services such as airtime, utility payments, banking and insurance services for their customers.

The platform aggregates all major financial services providers, allowing agents to sell various digital products, while it also delivers essential goods to shops. It also extends unsecured credit to its agents. 

Tanda’s platform and network supports 58 banks and saccos, four telecoms, 18 billers, and 12,000 merchants and agents, and has served over 300,000 unique customers, all of which have processed millions of transactions to date. Tanda has now set its sights on growing its Kenyan footprint to 100,000 agents and merchants, and an expansion to Uganda and Rwanda within the next 24 months. 

This expansion drive comes after Tanda secured backing last month from HAVAÍC, Zedcrest Capital, DFS Lab, Victor Asemota, and three more investors. Tanda has also secured key strategic partnerships with Mastercard and Interswitch which will further accelerate this growth. 

“Our team will continue to run aggressive agent and customer acquisition drives across the region, while securing more strategic partnerships in these new markets to further support Tanda’s growth and strategy as we pursue our goal of digitising payments across Africa. Tanda is excited to be at the forefront of the rapid shift towards innovative digital-first solutions, especially in markets that are ripe for disruption,” said Geoffrey Mulei, chief executive officer (CEO) of Tanda.