Engage Capital Tables $24.5M Bid to Revive Lipa Later from Administration

Kenyan task superior steadfast Engage Capital has submitted a $24.5 cardinal bid to get Lipa Later, a section buy-now-pay-later startup that entered medication successful March 2025 aft unsuccessful efforts to unafraid further funding, according to 3 sources with cognition of the situation.

In mid-May, Engage Capital submitted a missive of intent (LOI) to Lipa Later, outlining plans to get the company’s exertion infrastructure, lawsuit network, intelligence property, and regulatory licences. The projected woody pending owed diligence besides includes partial presumption of Lipa Later’s liabilities, excluding non-performing loans.

“Total Consideration: $24,500,000. Proposed Structure: Purchase of the Target’s fintech platform, idiosyncratic base, proprietary assets, operational licenses, colony of institution liabilities, indebtedness portfolio, and related concern functions,” reads the Engage Capital LOI reviewed by TechCabal.

If finalized, the woody could correspond an uncommon betterment for a Kenyan startup successful administration. A palmy acquisition would situation the norm successful a marketplace wherever insolvency typically leads to illness hampered by ineligible disputes, rising debt, and slow-moving administrators.

Launched successful 2018 by Eric Muli and Michael Maina, Lipa Later secured important capitalist support, raising $16.6 cardinal implicit 10 backing rounds. This included a $12 cardinal effect circular successful January 2022 led by Cauris and Lateral Frontiers, pursuing earlier pre-seed investments from Orbit Startups successful 2021 and Founders Factory Africa successful 2019.

Although it initially gained beardown capitalist backing, Lipa Later’s concern exemplary yet stumbled. The institution was incapable to unafraid caller backing successful 2024, starring to missed payroll obligations and increasing unpaid debts to suppliers.

A erstwhile enforcement progressive successful the process revealed to TechCabal that acquisition discussions had already started anterior to Lipa Later’s introduction into medication successful March 2025. Since then, the court-appointed administrator, Moore JVB Consulting, has continued outreach to imaginable investors.

Lipa Later co-founder Eric Muli acknowledged to TechCabal that acquisition discussions are underway but withheld further information, citing the ongoing tribunal proceedings.

Should the woody with Engage Capital spell through, it could rescue the remnants of Lipa Later’s antecedently celebrated model, which enabled customers to acquisition electronics and different items successful instalments portion the startup paid vendors successful advance. At its height, Lipa Later was progressive successful Kenya, Uganda, and Rwanda, with enlargement plans targeting Nigeria and Ghana.

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