Ghanaian firm, Liquify, secures a $1.5 million investment to digitalize trade finance for African exporters.
In the bustling world of African trade, small and medium-sized exporters often face a significant challenge: the wait for payment. With invoices taking up to 90 days to be settled, cash flow can become a major issue for these businesses. However, a fintech startup, Liquify, is changing the game by providing a rapid, affordable solution to this problem.
Founded in 2023 by Nadya Yaremenko and Alberta Asafo-Asamoah, Liquify is an innovative digital platform designed to convert unpaid export invoices into immediate working capital for African SMEs. Since its beta launch in late 2024, the platform has facilitated over 150 transactions worth more than $4 million.
Liquify's platform operates by allowing exporters to upload an unpaid invoice, and within hours, they receive funding. This speed is a significant improvement over traditional bank financing, which can be slow and expensive for small firms. The platform provides a fully digital, AI-powered marketplace that automates onboarding, KYC/AML compliance, credit checks, and settlement, reducing processing time and lowering costs.
By purchasing export invoices at a discount, Liquify injects liquidity into SMEs, helping them convert slow-paying receivables into immediate cash. This support enables SMEs not just to survive but to thrive and scale their export operations.
Moreover, Liquify turns trade receivables into structured, financeable assets for global investors. This opens a new investment class of short-term, self-liquidating, low-correlation financial instruments, attracting global capital to African trade finance and enabling sustainable growth.
With fresh $1.5 million seed funding, Liquify plans to expand beyond Ghana to markets like Nigeria and Kenya. They are enhancing AI-driven risk engines for faster due diligence and piloting digital tools to manage trade documentation, further improving service and reach.
Liquify's model aims to transform overlooked trade receivables into a diversified, financeable asset class. This innovative approach directly tackles Africa's $120 billion trade finance gap by making trade receivables a scalable and investable asset class, thereby fostering export growth and economic development across the continent.
The round was led by Future Africa, with participation from Launch Africa, 54 Collective, Digital Africa, Equitable Ventures, and several angel investors. Liquify's co-founder, Yaremenko, managed a $3 billion trade finance portfolio at Citi across emerging markets, bringing valuable experience to the table.
As Liquify expands its team and enters new markets, it faces challenges such as navigating multi-country compliance, building trust among SMEs, and educating global investors about the viability of SME trade finance. However, with its rapid growth and positive impact, Liquify is well-positioned to overcome these hurdles and continue empowering African exporters.
In summary, Liquify's platform empowers African exporters by digitizing and accelerating invoice financing, unlocking working capital tied in unpaid invoices, and attracting global capital to an underserved SME sector. This innovative approach directly tackles Africa's $120 billion trade finance gap by making trade receivables a scalable and investable asset class, thereby fostering export growth and economic development across the continent.
- Liquify, a fintech startup founded in 2023, provides an innovative digital platform that converts unpaid export invoices of African SMEs into immediate working capital, offering a rapid and affordable solution to the issue of slow payments in the bustling world of African trade.
- By purchasing export invoices at a discount, Liquify injects liquidity into SMEs, helping them convert slow-paying receivables into immediate cash, thereby enabling these businesses not just to survive but to thrive and scale their export operations.
- With fresh $1.5 million seed funding, Liquify plans to expand beyond Ghana to markets like Nigeria and Kenya, aiming to transform overlooked trade receivables into a diversified, financeable asset class, thereby attracting global capital to African trade finance and fostering export growth and economic development across the continent.
