Johannesburg, 30th May 2022 — UsPlus Limited (“UsPlus”), a South African SME Lender, has raised a senior secured loan of up to USD 10 million from Lendable, a leading provider of debt to financial technology companies in emerging and frontier markets. This partnership will enable UsPlus to scale its business, allowing more South African SMEs to access purpose built working capital solutions.
UsPlus is a fast growing South Africa based specialist SME financing firm launched in 2015 in Johannesburg, South Africa, with the mission of providing flexible working capital solutions to the SME sector, thereby contributing to the development of South Africa’s SME segment and entrepreneurship more generally. The firm specializes in providing tailor-made working capital finance solutions principally through the purchase of transferable instruments (e.g. invoices, purchase orders and contracts) issued by or to its SME clients. This enables its SME clients to easily and cost effectively manage their working capital. UsPlus focuses on social, economic and environmental impact and invests in businesses that contribute to employment in South Africa, black-owned and rural-based SMEs.
During the Covid-19 pandemic, South Africa implemented one of the most severe lockdowns in Africa which significantly curtailed economic activity and placed a significant amount of stress on the private sector, and SMEs in particular. South Africa’s post-pandemic recovery is dependent on its SMEs’ ability to access working capital finance as normal economic activity resumes and businesses once again focus on growth. Lendable’s MSME Fintech Credit Fund focuses on fintech companies that supply credit, working capital, remittances, and payment solutions to MSMEs, and as such is fully aligned with UsPlus’ mission.
The success of UsPlus has been primarily driven by an experienced management team and automation of core processes which enhances both its client service and risk management. Furthermore, UsPlus also provides no-cost strategic support to its SME clients in addition to its financing.
We are thrilled to onboard Lendable as our latest funding partner. The alignment of our developmental values augurs well for a long-term, value adding relationship, and the scale of the facility provides scope to have real impact in the South African SME landscape. It is a significant endorsement of our team and our business that Lendable has partnered with us. Our biggest obstacle to growth, and hence impact, has been access to capital to deploy across our ever growing client base, particularly given the current low risk appetite from the South African formal banking sector on the back of Covid-19. This partnership with Lendable comes at the perfect time for UsPlus.
We are excited to close this facility with UsPlus and deepen our presence in South Africa. The UsPlus team has demonstrated extraordinary resilience throughout the Covid-19 Pandemic, which it successfully navigated thanks to its strong relationships with its clients and deep understanding of the markets they operate in. We are closely aligned in terms of our impact focus, and look forward to seeing the company deploy our capital to the many outstanding SMEs in its portfolio — including many minority and female owned businesses — as the South African economy recovers after two exceptionally tough years.
About UsPlus
UsPlus was launched in 2015 in Johannesburg, South Africa, with the mission of providing flexible working capital solutions to the SME sector and thereby contributing to the country’s development agenda. The firm specialises in providing tailor-made working capital finance solutions principally through the purchase of transferable instruments (i.e., invoices, purchase orders and contracts) issued by or to its SME clients. This enables its SME clients to easily and cost effectively manage their working capital.
For more information, please visit usplus.world
About Lendable
Lendable is a leading debt finance provider to fintech companies across frontier and emerging markets that create access to new financial products and services for un- and under-banked populations. Lendable finances fintech companies that facilitate consumer and MSME credit, productive asset finance, payments, remittances, and digital marketplaces. From its offices in Nairobi, London, and Singapore, and using its proprietary technology and data, Lendable directly originates, structures, underwrites, and monitors all transactions. To date, Lendable has disbursed over $250m to fintechs in over 14 countries.