Kenyan AI Startup Flowt Secures Pre-Seed Funding to Boost Climate-Smart Businesses Across Africa

Nairobi-based startup Flowt has successfully closed an undisclosed pre-seed funding round, backed by Delta40 Fund I, Impacc, and the Argidius Foundation. Founded by Elana Laichena, Flowt leverages an AI-driven financial intelligence platform to convert disorganized financial records into verified, lender-ready data. This innovation is specifically designed to unlock crucial working capital for climate-smart small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) across Africa, addressing a significant barrier to their growth and environmental impact.

Traditionally, climate finance in Africa has disproportionately favored large-scale energy projects, largely due to the high costs and perceived risks associated with assessing smaller businesses. Lenders often struggle to accurately verify the financial health of SMEs, leading to unviable loan terms or lengthy due diligence processes. Flowt aims to disrupt this paradigm by providing a more efficient and accurate method for financial assessment, making it economically feasible for funders to invest in smaller, impactful businesses.

Flowt's solution integrates directly with a company's accounting systems and bank records, using machine learning to rapidly cross-check transaction data. This allows for a comprehensive assessment of cash flow, financial position, and repayment capacity in a matter of hours, rather than months. Additionally, the platform includes a dedicated "Flowt Wallet" infrastructure, which helps borrowers manage funds by separating purchasing and collection funds from general operating expenses, thereby enhancing transparency and reducing risk for lenders.

An early success story highlights Flowt's impact: GreenBay, a Kenyan circular commerce business, used Flowt to secure much-needed working capital. Despite being deemed unlendable by traditional banks due to its nascent stage and customer base, Flowt's integration with GreenBay's software provided a real-time operational picture, enabling the loan. This allowed GreenBay to scale its inventory and sales, demonstrating the potential for Flowt's AI to unlock growth for similar climate-focused businesses across the continent.