Zambia-based digital bank Lupiya has closed a USD 11.25 million Series A funding round to expand its operations across Southern and East Africa.
Following this announcement, Zambia-based digital banking platform Lupiya has secured USD 11.25 million in a Series A round led by IDF Capital's Alitheia IDF Fund, with participation from INOKS Capital and Germany-based development finance institution KfW DEG. The capital will be used to broaden Lupiya's product offering, strengthen its technology infrastructure, and support geographic expansion beyond Zambia into Southern and East African markets.
Founded in 2016, Lupiya focuses on serving unbanked and underbanked populations in Zambia. Its platform combines digital payments through its Lupiya Pay service with lending products, and the company is actively building Embedded Finance partnerships. According to a company official, the fundraising process took close to two years to complete, a timeline the company attributed to the structural challenges facing African fintech businesses seeking institutional capital.
Capital structure and investor background
According to the announcement, prior to this round, Lupiya raised capital across multiple instruments, including grants, convertible notes, debt, equity, and non-dilutive funding. Early backers include Enygma Ventures, which contributed USD 1 million during the pandemic period. The company also received support through Mastercard's financial inclusion programmes, which additionally provided access to payment rails for digital transactions. Institutional supporters have included Google, the World Bank, and the UN's International Trade Centre, though the nature of their involvement — whether financial, technical, or programmatic — has not been disclosed.
The Alitheia IDF Fund, which led the Series A, is a private equity fund dedicated to gender-lens investing across Africa. A company official at IDF Capital stated that Lupiya's focus on financial and gender inclusion aligned with the fund's investment mandate.
Market context and expansion plans
Zambia's financial inclusion rate, while improving, remains below the regional average. World Bank data from 2021 indicates that approximately 45% of Zambian adults held accounts with financial institutions, with significant disparities across gender and urban-rural lines. Digital lenders have emerged as alternatives to traditional banking infrastructure, though they continue to face pressures including high operating costs in lower-density markets, regulatory uncertainty, and currency volatility.
Lupiya has not disclosed the specific markets it intends to enter as part of its expansion, nor has it released figures relating to its current loan book, customer base, or revenue. Alongside the Series A, the company has opened an additional funding round in 2026 to scale its lending operations, deepen its Embedded Finance capabilities, and extend the reach of Lupiya Pay across new markets.
