Lidya shuts down after raising $16.45m

Lidya, a digital lender, has officially ceased operations after raising a total of $16.45 million.

The firm sent an email to its customers announcing the shutdown, stating that, “best efforts to restructure and sustain operations, the company has encountered severe financial distress and is no longer able to continue in business.

“As a result, the Company has ceased all operations. Due to the Company’s financial status, it is unable to process funds or settle claims at this time,” the email stated.

The company was founded by former executives from Jumia, Tunde Kehinde and Ercin Eksin. It began as a digital lender offering small and medium-sized businesses fast, collateral-free loans via a digital platform.

In 2020, it expanded into Europe, establishing operations in Poland and the Czech Republic.

The next year, it raised $8.3 million in a pre-Series B round. By 2023, however, it exited both European markets to refocus on Nigeria.

Lidya also launched a product called ‘Lidya Collect’ aimed at loan recovery and debt collection for businesses, but according to customer reports, the platform experienced widespread problems, which are frozen funds, failed transactions, and manual recovery efforts.

Customers reported difficulty accessing their funds. Apart from the money that’s locked up, they have layered millions of transactions on the platform, and now that it’s failing, they have to recover those debts manually.

Executive exits and the disbanding of teams preceded the shutdown. Both co-founder Tunde Kehinde and CTO Cristiano Machado left in 2024 (October and September, respectively).

The tech team based in Portugal reportedly dissolved between May and September 2024 amid payroll issues.