South African fintech group Zyra has raised $2.77 million from Laudian Investment Holdings in its first institutional funding round, securing access to a further R100 million as it prepares to expand beyond its home market.
The company said it will use the investment to develop its technology, scale existing operations and enter three additional markets by the end of 2026.
Zyra launched its first product, ZyraLend, in July. The AI-powered lending platform operates through WhatsApp and received 26,596 loan applications in its first month, from customers across all nine provinces.
The service offers short-term loans of up to R8,000, repayable over periods of one to six months. Its automated system processes applications around the clock, with 48.8% of customer interactions taking place outside business hours.
For Black and Brown founders building financial technology businesses in Africa, the deal shows an institutional funding route for early-stage fintech ventures.
