# Lupiya Financial Model NeoBank for emerging African markets offering digital lending, P2P investments, and payments. - Canonical: https://finamodel.com/startups/lupiya - Excel download: https://finamodel.com/startup-models/lupiya.xlsx - Category: Fintech - Model type: SaaS ARR / Valuation - Funding round: Series A - Funding: $8.3M - Founded: 2023 - Geography: Primary market Zambia; expansion targets Tanzania and Malawi [DECK slide 04] - Customer: B2C ## About the company 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. ## What's included - 5-year monthly revenue build with stage-appropriate growth assumptions - Full P&L, headcount plan, and operating-expense schedule - Cash-flow statement, runway, and burn-rate tracking - Valuation via exit multiple with a DCF cross-check - Returns analysis with MOIC and IRR - Unit economics including CAC, LTV, payback, and cohort retention ## 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**: 1. Assumptions - all drivers, clearly flagged vs 2. Loan Book Schedule - new originations, repayments, defaults, ending book balance per period 3. P2P AUM Schedule - inflows, outflows, fee calculation 4. Payments Revenue - TPV × take-rate by local/international 5. Income Statement - revenue by stream, gross profit, EBITDA, net income 6. Balance Sheet - loan receivables, cash, equity, credit facility 7. Cash Flow Statement - operating CF, investing (CAPEX), financing (equity in, debt drawdown/repay) 8. Customer Funnel - new customers, active customers, churn 9. Scenarios - toggle between Base/Bull/Bear 10. Dashboard - ARR, loan book, customers, EBITDA margin, cash runway ## Frequently asked questions ### Is the Lupiya financial model free? Yes. The Lupiya model is a free Excel download with live formulas. ### Can I change the assumptions? Yes. The workbook is editable and its live formulas recalculate when assumptions change.