Vula: leveraging data to transform SME financing in Africa
Small Foundation is excited to announce a strategic investment in Vula, a London-based artificial intelligence (AI) startup redefining SME financing in Africa. By automating the connection between SMEs and funders, Vula is making access to finance less costly and more efficient.
Vula’s solution: A digital bridge for trust and efficiency
The biggest challenge to SME financing isn’t a lack of available funding, but rather system inefficiencies and a deficit of trust. SMEs often struggle to secure financing due to limited collateral, constrained capacity, and low success rates with traditional funding applications. Funders meanwhile face inefficiencies and high operational costs, driven in part by poor data quality and fragmented systems. Vula’s AI-powered solutions tackle these issues by streamlining processes for both SMEs and funders.
Vula’s platform leverages AI-backed technology to simplify the financing process, providing a digital infrastructure that automates deal flow and eases the burden on both entrepreneurs and capital providers.
AI represents a unique use-case for African finance, enabling 100x more efficient interactions between fragmented capital providers, ecosystem enablers, and entrepreneurs. We’re honoured to partner with Small Foundation and future-thinking institutions across the continent to build Africa’s next generation of SME funding infrastructure.
Nic Rawhani, Vula
Vula’s core products
Vula’s AI-driven platform offers four key products:
- AI Funding Assistant – Automates application processes and matches SMEs with relevant funding opportunities
- Intelligent Marketplace – Proactively connects SMEs with vetted funders
- Vula OS – Improves efficiency by automating investment operations for funders
- Vula Navigator – Provides custom impact data reporting for SME-focused funders
By leveraging generative AI, Vula continuously updates SME and funder data, driving efficiency and transparency across the financing ecosystem. Ultimately, Vula is helping businesses focus their time and efforts on what truly matters—developing products, growing their customer base, and increasing their chances of success.
A shared vision for growth
This investment aligns with Small Foundation’s ongoing efforts to support funders, which have consistently identified high operational costs and poor-quality data as key barriers to financing SMEs. We are excited to support Vula in harnessing AI to drive scalable, data-driven solutions to these long-standing issues.
Our partnership with Vula reflects a shared commitment to transforming the SME financing landscape in Africa. By harnessing cutting-edge AI and a deep understanding of market needs, we’re working together to break down systemic barriers and unlock the full potential of entrepreneurial growth.
Conor Brosnan, CEO of Small Foundation
