Flowt Pre-Seed First Close Backs Climate SME Financing

In Short

Flowt has completed the first close of a pre-seed round. The Nairobi fintech plans to grow working capital lending for climate-smart small businesses in Africa.

What Happened

Flowt, a Nairobi-based fintech, said it has completed the first close of its pre-seed funding round. The amount was not disclosed.

The round includes backing from Delta40 Fund I and Impacc. Flowt also received grant support from the Argidius Foundation. Founder Elana Laichena said the company plans a second close, plus additional debt and repayable grants to expand its lending.

Flowt is building an AI-powered financial intelligence platform. That means software that turns messy business data into lender-ready signals, similar to how a credit bureau standardises consumer records. The platform analyses information SMEs already generate, such as accounting records and bank transaction data. It then structures the data so lenders can assess cash flow and repayment capacity faster.

The startup is targeting climate-smart businesses that struggle to access bank loans. Common gaps include limited collateral, short operating history, or financial statements that are not in a format lenders can use.

Flowt has issued its first working-capital facility to GreenBay, a Kenyan circular-commerce business that refurbishes and resells household appliances and solar products. Flowt assessed GreenBay by integrating with its accounting system and analysing banking data.

Delta40 said Flowt was developed inside its venture studio and has tested its approach with more than 15 prospective borrowers. Flowt also claims a pre-qualified lending pipeline of $1 million to $2 million across sectors like renewable energy, green manufacturing, climate-smart agriculture, clean cooking, and circular commerce.

Why It Matters

Across Africa, many SMEs are “creditworthy” in practice but fail traditional underwriting checks. Underwriting is the process lenders use to decide whether to lend and on what terms.

Flowt’s approach shifts the focus from physical collateral to verified transaction history and business performance data. If it works at scale, it could reduce the cost of assessing smaller loans and speed up disbursement. That is especially relevant for climate-focused businesses that often need short-term working capital to buy inventory, equipment, or inputs.

More debt and repayable grant financing could also signal that Flowt is building a lending book, not only a data product. That will bring both growth opportunities and tougher risk management expectations as it expands in Kenya and beyond.