Kenyan fintech startup Flowt is seeking to reshape how small businesses access working capital after raising $550,000 in funding as it works toward building a $1 million loan book by the end of 2026. The Nairobi-based company uses artificial intelligence and financial data to assess businesses that may struggle to qualify for traditional bank financing.
Flowt was founded by Elana Laichena and focuses particularly on climate-smart businesses, including companies working in renewable energy, green manufacturing, climate-focused agriculture and clean cooking. Its approach is designed to address a common challenge for African small and medium-sized businesses: limited access to affordable working capital.
Traditional lenders often rely heavily on collateral, lengthy financial assessments and established credit histories when deciding whether to provide loans. For smaller businesses, these requirements can make borrowing difficult even when they have regular revenue and strong transaction records.
Flowt is taking a different approach. Its platform analyses financial information that businesses already generate through bank accounts, M-Pesa and accounting systems such as QuickBooks, Zoho and Odoo. The technology uses this information to evaluate cash flow, revenue patterns and repayment capacity.
The company has already issued its first working-capital facility to GreenBay, a Kenyan business that refurbishes and sells pre-owned household appliances and solar products. Flowt has also tested its platform with more than 15 potential borrowers, with businesses in its pipeline representing between $1 million and $2 million in potential loan demand.
The new funding is expected to help Flowt expand its lending operations while developing its financial intelligence technology. Its backers include Delta40 Fund I and Impacc, alongside grant support from the Argidius Foundation. The company is also looking for additional equity, debt and repayable grant funding to support its growth.
Flowt delivers its loans through Choice Microfinance Bank, which is licensed and regulated by the Central Bank of Kenya. Its current products include invoice financing, purchase-order financing, inventory financing and grant-contract financing. Flowt says businesses can receive financing based on verified financial data rather than traditional asset-backed security.
The company’s $1 million loan-book target is ambitious given its early stage, but it reflects the size of the financing gap facing smaller African businesses. By using transaction data to reduce the time and cost of assessing borrowers, Flowt hopes to make smaller loans more commercially viable.
For Kenya’s growing climate-business sector, this could be particularly important. Many businesses need funding to purchase inventory, fulfil orders or expand operations, but waiting weeks or months for conventional financing can limit growth.
Flowt’s progress will ultimately depend on whether its AI-driven assessments can accurately measure risk while keeping financing affordable. If the model succeeds, the company could demonstrate how financial data generated through everyday business transactions can become a powerful tool for expanding credit access across Africa.
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