Bloomberg has released its inaugural Top 25 African Startups to Watch in 2025 list, recognizing some of the continent’s most innovative companies across key sectors, including biotechnology, finance, e-commerce, and eclectic mobility.
Among these 25 trailblazing startups, four operate in the fintech space, representing countries like Angola, Zambia, and South Africa.
The finalists were selected from a pool of 2,000 applications and were curated through an evaluation process that prioritized impact, innovation, and traction. Startups were assessed on the uniqueness of their solution, the strength of customer and investor interest, and their ability to show real-world application of their product or service.
The four fintech companies featured on this year’s list are pushing the boundaries in areas including regtech and cross-border payments. They represent some of the most innovative and fastest-growing startups in Africa, and are poised to see continued momentum from this year onward.
Anda (Angola)
Founded in 2022, Anda is a young tech startup that aims to transform Angola’s motorcycle taxi industry by formalizing and professionalizing this largely informal sector. The company offers asset financing to motorcycle taxi drivers across Angola, along with parallel training services and professional driver certifications, helping thousands of drivers to build sustainable livelihoods while elevating standards of safety and service.
Anda offers a comprehensive ride-to-own model that enables previously unbanked drivers to acquire motorcycles through asset financing. This approach not only gives them access to essential income-generating tools but also helps them gradually gain full ownership of their vehicles.
Alongside financing, the company offers training and official driver certifications, ensuring a safer, more professional service for both riders and passengers. Drivers also benefit from GPS tracking, insurance, safety equipment, and rapid response services.
Meanwhile, customers benefit from flexible access to ride-hailing and delivery services via the Anda mobile app, call center, or physical taxi stands.
Angola is home to an estimated 1.2 million informal motorcycle taxi drivers, representing 3.3% of the national workforce.
eShandi (Zambia)
Founded in 2019 as PremierCredit, and initially as a microfinance institution, eShandi is a fast-growing fintech startup that aims to change how people access and manage money. Licensed and regulated by the Bank of Zambia, the company strives to provide simple, inclusive, digital-first financial services tailored to individuals and businesses in emerging African markets.
eShandi uses innovative technology and strategic partnerships to deliver last-mile financial services to traditionally underserved and unbanked communities. These services include instant collateral-free digital loans with flexible repayment terms, affordable insurance with immediate payouts and preventive care options, seamless payment services, cashless transactions, mobile banking, merchant services, financial management tools, and agency banking.
eShandi has expanded into three new markets, namely Zimbabwe, Kenya, and South Africa, and strives to become a pan-African challenger bank disrupting traditional financial systems across the continent. It says it has served over one million individuals and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), with revenues growing from US$91,000 in 2020 to US$12 million in 2023, eShandi co-founder Chilufya Mutale-Mwila told Disrupt Africa in an interview in April.
eShandi has secured a total of US$12 million in funding to date from major international investors including Enygma Ventures, INOKS Capital and Mastercard, as well as through crowdfunding platforms.
iiDENTIFii (South Africa)
Founded in 2018 and headquartered in South Africa, iiDENTIFii is a leading digital identity verification specialist. The company offers a robust platform that combines biometric liveness detection, facial verification, and identity document authentication.
At the core of iiDENTIFii’s technology is its proprietary 4D Liveness technology, a patented, advanced biometric solution that accurately proves liveness and facial identity while being resilient to deepfakes, digital replay attacks, and other forms of synthetic fraud. This technology has been rigorously tested in over 50 million face match operations across Africa, demonstrating exceptional accuracy and resilience in real-world conditions.
iiDENTIFii serves some of Africa’s largest financial institutions and multinational enterprises across sectors including banking, insurance, retail, e-commerce, healthcare, gaming, and education. It claims its solutions enable businesses to onboard customers in under 30 seconds from any device, reduce the cost of customer acquisition and authentication, meet rigorous compliance standards, mitigate drop-offs during authentication or know-your-customer (KYC) processes, and ensure data privacy and security.
In October 2022, iiDENTIFii raised US$15 million in a Series A funding round led by pan-African investment firm Arise, with participation from Sanari Capital and angel investor Bill Spruill
Klasha (Nigeria)
Founded in 2021, Klasha is a global technology company enabling seamless cross-border payments to and from emerging markets. The company offers a suite of application programming interfaces (APIs) and financial infrastructure that allows businesses to collect, send, and hold funds in different currencies with minimal friction.
Klasha’s offerings include virtual multi-currency accounts, collection and payout APIs, and cross-border wire services, facilitating fast and cost-effective transactions in over 120 currencies. To date, the platform has processed more than 140 million transactions, and cover seven African countries: Nigeria, Kenya, Tanzania, South Africa, Uganda, Zambia, and Sierra Leone.
In 2023, Klasha reached a significant milestone by obtaining a Money Services Business (MSB) license from the US Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN). This license authorizes Klasha to operate as a regulated currency exchange and money transmitter in the US, expanding its global compliance footprint and credibility.
To date, Klasha has secured US$6.5 million in funding from prominent investors, including American Express, Greycroft, Seedcamp, and Global Ventures.
Featured image: Edited by Fintech News Africa, based on image by namrashahid20 via Freepik
