Lupiya Financial Model
Fintech Startup Financials (Free Excel Download)
NeoBank for emerging African markets offering digital lending, P2P investments, and payments.
professionals from Deloitte
Used by professionals from
About this model
Lupiya is a neobank for emerging African markets offering digital lending, peer-to-peer investment, and payments. It brings borrowers, investors, and everyday financial services into one digital financial platform.
The business has several monetisation routes, including loan interest and service fees, P2P investment fees, and local or international transaction fees. Each line has different volume, risk, and funding dynamics, so a single SaaS-style revenue forecast would be misleading.
The model should separately track loan originations, balances, yield, credit losses, and funding cost; P2P assets under management and platform fees; and payments volume with transaction yield. Customer acquisition and active-user cohorts then tie the three products into one operating forecast.
A turnkey financial model
Live formulas, no hardcoded values
Outputs are driven by live formulas, so the workbook updates from its assumptions instead of relying on hardcoded results.
All assumptions in one tab
Inputs are clearly marked in the Assumptions tab and separated from calculations, making it clear what to change and what to leave intact.
Statements always balancing
For integrated-statement models, the balance sheet, cash flow, and supporting schedules tie through properly.
Distinct schedules for clarity
Debt, working capital, taxes, and cash flow can get messy quickly. We group calculations in clear schedules, not across disconnected tabs.
No hidden macros or external links
There are no unexplained external workbook links or macros to undermine auditability or portability.
Changes flow through the model
Update a key driver and see the impact carry through the forecast, financing, and return outputs. We never use hardcoded numbers in formulas.
About Lupiya
lupiya.com
How to build a detailed financial model for Lupiya
A complete walkthrough of the business, drivers, and assumptions behind the downloadable Lupiya model - distilled from its pitch deck and publicly available information.
Product & value proposition
Three core digital financial products:
- Online Lending - digital loan origination targeting underserved borrowers
- Online Investments - P2P lending marketplace connecting borrowers and retail investors
- Online Payments - local and international digital payments
Positioning: only digital financial services provider in Zambia offering loans + investments + payments in one platform. "Lupiya" means "money" in a Zambian local language.
Backed by Google for Startups (Black Founders Fund) and Mastercard.
Market
- TAM: $108bn per annum - Total Accessible Market, Africa
- SAM: $25bn per annum - Serviceable Accessible Market, Zambia + Tanzania + Malawi
- SOM: $140mn per annum - Serviceable Obtainable Market, Zambia
- Sources cited: World Bank, United Nations, Statista, MasterCard
- Context: 65% of adult population marginalized; 64% of transactions in cash; 70% of financially excluded are women
Revenue model
Three revenue streams:
| Stream | Fee Type | Rate |
|---|---|---|
| Lending | Service Fee | 10% |
| Lending | Interest | 8% |
| P2P Investments | Service Fee | 1% |
| P2P Investments | Tenure Fee | 0.25% |
| Payments | Local Transactions | 1.7% |
| Payments | International | 6.9% |
No explicit clarification on whether lending fees/interest are per-loan or annualized. Loan tenor and average ticket size not stated.
Traction & metrics
All figures are YOY growth rates; base period and absolute values not disclosed:
- ARR: 598% YOY growth
- Loan Book: 437% YOY growth
- Customers: 120% YOY growth
- EBITDA: 1,500% YOY growth
- Net Income: 137% YOY growth
No absolute revenue, loan book size, customer count, or base year stated in the deck. No retention, AOV, or NPS data shown.
Awards:
- Global Startup Awards - Startup of the Year, Southern Africa, 2021
- AfricArena - Best Series A Startup, Southern Region, 2021
- TechTrends - Fintech of the Year, 2021
- Zambia Ecommerce Awards - Financial Inclusion Award, 2020
Competition / moat
Competitive landscape (Zambia digital fintech):
- Digital / single-product: ZAZU (payments-focused), SPENN (savings/payments)
- Brick-and-mortar / lending: Bayport, Premier Credit Zambia, microfinance institutions, traditional banks
Moat claim: "Lupiya is the only digital financial services provider in Zambia that provides inclusive loans, accessible investments & payments" - i.e., breadth of digital product offering.
Structural advantages: female-led team (60% female employees, 66% female management) targeting financially excluded women (70% of exclusion pool); partnerships with Google, Mastercard, AWS, World Bank, ITC.
Team & funding ask / use of funds
Team:
- Evelyn Kaingu - Co-founder & CEO; Economics background; 10 YOE banking & finance
- Muchu Kaingu - Co-founder & CTO; Computer Science; 15 YOE software engineering & tech startups
- Chantelle Nayame - Head of Finance; Finance background; 10 YOE accounting & financial management
Advisors / Investors:
- Lelemba Phiri - Advisor; Finance, Investments; successful fintech exit
- Sarah Dusek - Director & Investor; seasoned entrepreneur; $100M exit
- Jacob Dusek - Director & Investor; seasoned entrepreneur; $100M exit
Funding Ask:
- Amount: USD $10 million equity
- Fundraising progress: 75% committed, 25% pending
Use of Funds (equity):
- Operations: 35%
- Sales & Marketing: 25%
- Technology: 33% (note: image shows ~33% for the purple segment)
- CAPEX: 7%
Recommended financial model
- Archetype + why: Multi-product lending/marketplace/payments 3-statement model with a loan book and P2P AUM sub-schedule. Lupiya has three distinct revenue engines with different mechanics: (1) lending generates interest income + origination fees on a revolving loan book - needs a loan tape / vintage model; (2) P2P investments generate fee income on AUM placed - needs AUM flow model; (3) payments generate take-rate revenue on transaction volume (TPV). The right top-level frame is a 3-statement model (IS / BS / CF) with a loan book schedule as the core credit asset, since lending appears to be the primary revenue driver (given the 437% loan book growth and the 10%+8% combined lending yield).
- Forecast horizon & granularity: 5-year annual forecast (2022–2026), with Year 1 broken into monthly detail to support the Series A 18–24 month burn/deployment plan.
- Key drivers & assumptions:
*Lending*
- Opening loan book size: - not in deck; back-solve from SOM $140mn implies a small early share; assume ~$2–5M opening book
- Loan book growth rate YOY: 437% historical; model at declining rates post-raise
- Average loan tenor: 6–12 months (typical Zambia consumer/SME micro-lending)
- Origination/service fee: 10% per loan
- Interest rate: 8% - clarify if per annum or flat per-loan tenor
- Net loss / default rate: 5–10% of loan book p.a. (emerging market consumer credit; no data in deck)
- Provisioning / credit loss expense: aligned to default rate above
*P2P Investments (AUM)*
- P2P service fee: 1% of AUM
- P2P tenure fee: 0.25% - assumed per loan term placed
- AUM growth: - tracked to loan book growth with a lag
*Payments*
- Local take-rate: 1.7%
- International take-rate: 6.9%
- Local/international TPV split: 85%/15% (Zambia domestic-heavy)
*Customers & growth*
- Customer count growth: 120% YOY historical; moderating post-raise to 80%/50%/35%/20%
- Customer base: absolute count not in deck - must be confirmed; model will leave as a driver input cell
*Costs*
- Opex breakdown guided by use of funds: Operations 35%, S&M 25%, Technology 33%, CAPEX 7% of $10M raise
- Headcount growth, cost of funds (borrowing rate for loan book), and overhead: per market benchmarks; to be refined with management
*Capital*
- Equity raised: $10M
- Debt/credit facility for loan book: - typical fintech structure uses equity + warehouse credit line; model should include a revolving credit facility as a BS item
- Scenarios (Base / Bull / Bear - which variables flex):
- Base: loan book at 200%/80%/40% YOY growth; default rate 7%; payments TPV moderate ramp
- Bull: loan book at 300%/120%/60% growth; default rate 4%; faster geographic expansion to Tanzania/Malawi in Year 3
- Bear: loan book at 100%/40%/20% growth; default rate 12% (credit stress); payments take-rate compression
- Required sheets / outputs:
- Assumptions - all drivers, clearly flagged vs
- Loan Book Schedule - new originations, repayments, defaults, ending book balance per period
- P2P AUM Schedule - inflows, outflows, fee calculation
- Payments Revenue - TPV × take-rate by local/international
- Income Statement - revenue by stream, gross profit, EBITDA, net income
- Balance Sheet - loan receivables, cash, equity, credit facility
- Cash Flow Statement - operating CF, investing (CAPEX), financing (equity in, debt drawdown/repay)
- Customer Funnel - new customers, active customers, churn
- Scenarios - toggle between Base/Bull/Bear
- Dashboard - ARR, loan book, customers, EBITDA margin, cash runway
Frequently asked
Is the Lupiya financial model free?+
Yes. The Lupiya model is a free Excel (.xlsx) download with live formulas. Sign up with your email and the workbook is yours to keep, review, and edit.
What's included in the model?+
A 5-year monthly forecast with P&L, cash flow and runway, valuation (exit multiple plus a DCF cross-check), MOIC/IRR returns, and unit economics, with live formulas throughout.
How was this model built?+
It was built from Lupiya's pitch deck and publicly available information, then structured to investment-banking standards as a fully editable Excel model.
Can I change the assumptions?+
Yes. You can change assumptions and the live formulas will recalculate in the downloadable Excel model.
Have more financial modelling questions? Contact us
Created by ex-finance professionals
Hey, I’m Alex and I created Finamodel.
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