Solva secures $20m investment from the Sawiris family & ZCP

By Gloria Mathias

Kazakhstan-based Solva, a FinTech providing working capital solutions, has announced that it has raised a $20 million investment backed by the Sawiris family and ZCP.

The capital injection will allow Solva to further scale our digital financial products for millions of micro, small, and medium enterprises and boost job creation in Central Asia.

A portion of the funding will be used to support our ongoing transformation from a microfinance organisation into a fully licensed SME-focused bank, which is expected in 2024. The transformation will significantly increase the company’s capacity and financing outreach, bring new funding sources from current accounts and deposits, and add transactional products to the offering.

Boris Batine, Solva Co-founder, shared, “We are delighted to announce this new strategic partnership and excited about the prospects. We believe that Solva will greatly benefit from having a well-known and respected international investor, and additional funding will accelerate the execution of our regional strategy and expansion plans. Having stepped into the active phase of transforming our company from an NBFI into a fully licensed bank, it is essential to have a knowledgeable and reliable international partner along our journey who also shares our development vision and sustainability principles.”

The latest funding round led by the Sawiris family and ZCP will fulfil Solva’s mission to make financial products more accessible and inclusive and promote sustainable growth in the region.

Solva is a FinTech in Kazakhstan and a neobank for MSMEs and consumers in Central Asia. It has achieved the fastest credit approval level across all client segments and gained extensive credit risk expertise by assessing the credit eligibility of 50% of Kazakhstan residents.

It believes that small and medium-sized businesses are the bloodstream of the country’s economy and aims to build a strong entrepreneurial community across Kazakhstan and Central Asia.