Nairobi, Kenya – September 23, 2025 — Kenyan buy-now-pay-later startup Watu is betting big on smartphone financing to drive growth, setting its sights on KES 44 billion ($340 million) in revenues for 2025. Watu targets $340 million revenue
Founded in 2015 by Andris Kaneps, Watu has quickly evolved from motorbike financing into one of the region’s most aggressive players in microlending. The company reported gross revenues of KES 29.9 billion ($231.4 million) in 2024, a 67% increase from the previous year, largely fueled by handset loans. Smartphone financing now represents the majority of new loan disbursements, signaling a strategic pivot away from its traditional boda-boda customer base.
However, despite revenue growth, Watu’s net profit plunged 85% to $1.2 million in 2024, underscoring rising repayment risks, defaults, and operational costs across its key markets in Kenya and Uganda. The decline highlights the challenges of scaling BNPL lending to low-income earners in volatile economies.
Expanding Loan Book and Customer Base
Watu’s loan book continues to swell. In 2024, active loans tripled to 1.9 million, and the firm aims to hit 2.3 million loans by end of 2025. Nearly 900,000 of these loans are expected to be extended to women, a demographic historically excluded from asset financing such as motorbikes.
The startup’s 2024 sustainability report outlined ambitious goals: financing 5,000 electric vehicles, distributing over two million smartphones, and pursuing both geographic expansion and deeper penetration in existing markets.
Yet, expansion has coincided with staff reductions. Watu trimmed its workforce by 3.6% to 2,465 employees last year, suggesting a shift towards digital loan management systems to handle its growing microloan portfolio.
Competition and Funding
Watu faces fierce competition from rivals including M-KOPA, Aspira, and Ampersand, which are also eyeing Africa’s underserved borrowers. Its reliance on low-income customers exposes it to income instability and repayment shocks, a persistent risk in microlending.
Despite challenges, Watu has managed to raise over $20 million across five rounds, backed by investors such as FMO, Gateway Partners, Verdant Capital, and AHL Venture Partners. Its latest Series B round in February 2024 positioned it among Kenya’s most resilient fintech startups, one of the few to achieve consistent profitability in a turbulent sector.
If Watu achieves its $340 million revenue goal in 2025, it will nearly triple in size within two years, testing whether its smartphone lending pivot can deliver sustainable scale.
