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Carrot Credit is a Lagos, Nigeria-based financial technology company that provides collateralized loans backed by digital investments such as stocks, ETFs, cryptocurrency, and government bonds through an embedded business-to-business-to-consumer model. The platform integrates directly into third-party brokerages and digital wealth managers across Africa, allowing retail investors to access credit lines based on their portfolio holdings rather than traditional credit scores. Operating with a workforce of 11 to 50 employees, the enterprise generates revenue from interest payments and has disbursed more than $2 million in loans to a customer base exceeding 10,000 individual users. To finance its ongoing expansion across the continent, the company recently secured $4.2 million in seed funding backed by a syndicate of institutional investors that includes MaC Venture Capital, Authentic Ventures, and Partech Africa. Carrot Credit was founded in 2023 by Boluwatife Aiki-Raji.
Carrot Credit has raised $4.0M across 1 funding round.
Carrot Credit has raised $4.0M in total across 1 funding round.
Carrot Credit has raised $4.0M across 1 funding round. Most recently, it raised $4.0M Seed in May 2025.
| Date | Round | Lead Investors | Other Investors | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 1, 2025 | $4M Seed | MAC Venture Capital | Remy Minute, Authentic Ventures, Partech | Announced |
Carrot Credit has raised $4.0M in total across 1 funding round.
Carrot Credit's investors include MaC Venture Capital, Remy Minute, Authentic Ventures, Partech.
Carrot Credit is a Nigerian fintech startup founded in 2023 that provides digital lending by allowing users to borrow against digital investment assets like stocks, ETFs, bonds, and cryptocurrencies as collateral, without selling them or relying on traditional credit checks.[1][2][3] It serves retail investors, businesses, and individuals across Africa through an embedded B2B2C model, partnering with fintechs, brokerages, and wealth managers to integrate lending into existing platforms, solving the problem of limited credit access in markets with fragmented financial systems and informal economies.[1][4] The platform offers flexible repayment terms (3, 6, or 12 months fixed, or monthly adjustable), below-market interest rates, and loan-to-value ratios up to 40% for stocks (10% for volatile ones) and 70% for fixed-income assets like government bonds.[2][3] With over $2 million in loans disbursed to more than 10,000 users, Carrot recently raised $4.2 million in seed funding led by MaC Venture Capital, with Partech Africa and Authentic Ventures participating, to fuel product development, team expansion, and African scaling.[1][2][4]
Carrot Credit was founded in 2023 in Lagos, Nigeria, by Boluwatife Aiki-Raji (CEO and co-founder), who identified a key gap: Africans were investing in stocks, crypto, and fixed-income products but couldn't use these as collateral for loans, forcing liquidation during cash needs.[1][3] Aiki-Raji's insight—"why can’t this be collateral?"—drove the idea, inspired by global models like BlockFi, SALT, and Lantern Finance, but adapted for Africa's underserved retail investors.[1][3] Early traction came quickly, with the platform disbursing over $2 million in loans to 10,000+ users via API integrations that verify assets and place liens, proving demand in a continent where traditional credit infrastructure lags.[2][3][4]
Carrot Credit rides the wave of Africa's booming digital investment surge—stocks, crypto, ETFs—amid rising financial literacy among youth, but where traditional credit excludes many due to informal economies and weak scoring systems.[1][4] Its timing aligns with fintech maturation post-2023 funding boom, enabling API-driven embedded finance that democratizes liquidity for retail investors and small businesses, much like global pioneers but localized for high-growth markets like Nigeria.[2][3] Market forces favoring Carrot include expanding digital wealth platforms, regulatory openness to alternative collateral, and investor appetite (e.g., MaC VC's bet on "low-barrier credit" in underserved regions), influencing the ecosystem by pressuring incumbents to innovate and boosting AUM retention for partners.[1][4] As one of Africa's first in this model, it pioneers inclusive fintech, potentially unlocking billions in trapped asset value continent-wide.[3]
Carrot Credit's seed funding positions it for rapid expansion, with plans to enhance AI-driven risk tools, grow its 11-50 person team, and deepen integrations across Africa, targeting underserved digital investors.[4][5] Trends like rising crypto/stock adoption, embedded finance proliferation, and AI in lending will propel its growth, though volatility in assets and regulatory shifts pose risks. Its influence could evolve from niche innovator to category leader, reshaping credit norms and enabling portfolio growth without sacrifice—unlocking liquidity where it's needed most, just as Aiki-Raji envisioned.[1][3]
