Akiba Digital

What Akiba Digital does

Akiba Digital is a South African fintech founded in 2017 and headquartered in Sandton, Johannesburg, that provides a risk decisioning engine branded AkibaOne, distributed primarily via REST APIs. The platform serves lenders, financial institutions, fintechs, and small and medium enterprises by aggregating access to 100+ datasets to automate KYC/KYB verification, alternative credit scoring, AML/PEP screening, fraud detection, and open banking data extraction during customer onboarding and ongoing risk decisions. The company claims 12,000+ businesses use its platform, and named customers include Trade Capital, Kai Connect, and Afrika Finance — all small financial-services SMBs. The company is led by co-founder and CEO Tebogo Mokwena.

The AkibaOne platform is built as a modular suite of API products. The Verification module runs automated KYC and KYB processes including business registration, identity number, bank account, phone number, plus biometric facial and fingerprint verification with liveness checks. The Risk Analysis module aggregates bank transaction history feeds and analyses bank statements to produce affordability, liquidity, and risk assessments, with credit checks delivered through integrations with TransUnion, Experian, and VerifyID. The Fraud Intelligence module performs AML/PEP, sanction, and default listing screening and flags tampered documents and information mismatches, while an Open Banking module extracts real-time transaction history from local South African banks. Underlying these products is the AKIBA dataset, augmented by proprietary machine learning, artificial intelligence, and statistical models that produce derived "Augmented Data" outputs (affordability, liquidity, risk, and financial health forecasts) protected as trade secrets under the Master Service Agreement.

Akiba monetises through a mix of recurring subscription fees and usage-based overage charges (per-call, transfer bandwidth/rates, buffer volumes) on the API products, billed in ZAR for South African clients and USD for international clients, with custom quote-based pricing for enterprise customers. Distribution is API-first, anchored by a self-serve sign-up at origination.akibadigital.com with a 14-day free trial and no card required, supplemented by sales-assisted demos for mid-market and enterprise, an indirect Channel Partner / reseller program enabled in the Terms of Service, and a 2024-launched Collaborate Program that offers up to 5,000 free API credits to qualifying African tech startups. To date, the company has raised approximately US$1.3 million across pre-seed and grant rounds between 2018 and 2023, with the largest being a US$1.1 million pre-seed in July 2021 co-led by Expert DOJO and Oui Capital.

Name

Akiba Digital

Legal name

Akiba Digital

Website

https://akibadigital.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2017

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Founded in 2017 in South Africa, Akiba Digital provides AkibaOne, an API-based risk decisioning engine that aggregates 100+ datasets to deliver KYC/KYB verification, open banking, credit scoring, and fraud intelligence to lenders, fintechs, and SMEs across Africa.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Alternative Credit Scoring & Risk Analytics

NAICS

Financial Transactions Processing, Reserve, and Clearinghouse Activities (522320)

SIC

Finance Services (6199)

akta.pro primary industry

Fraud, Risk, KYC/AML & Compliance Platforms (BPAMAFAI)

akta.pro secondary industries

BNPL Underwriting & Credit Decisioning Platforms (FSAGAIAD), BNPL Fraud, Identity & Chargeback/Risk Management (FSAKACAI), BNPL Risk, Fraud & Identity (POS-Specific) (FSAGAIAH)

Keywords

• Alternative credit scoring
• KYC verification API
• Open banking platform
• Fraud intelligence tools
• Digital onboarding SaaS

Headquarters

HQ city

Johannesburg

HQ country

South Africa

HQ region

Africa

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Supply Chain, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. API Subscription & Usage-Based Fees: Customers pay recurring subscription fees and per-call/usage-based overage charges for access to the API, Service Data and Augmented Data; fees set in API Order Form and billed monthly for overages and annually for subscriptions. Payments in ZAR for South African clients and USD for international clients.
2. Usage-Based / Per-Call API Consumption: Additional fees apply when customer use exceeds the Service Capacity, including overages, transfer bandwidth, transfer rates, buffer volumes for uningested data, and specific augmented data fields. Pricing is calculated at fair commercial market value.
3. Indirect Sales via Channel Partners: Channel Partners resell Akiba Products/Services under Indirect Orders; final sales price is independently set between Channel Partner and Customer.
4. Free Trial / Freemium Onboarding: 14-day free trial of the AkibaOne platform to drive adoption; converts into paid subscription upon trial expiry.
5. Data Monetisation (Augmented Data Licensing): Augmented Data derived from machine learning, AI and statistical models is licensed to customers as part of the API offering; Akiba retains ownership of derived/aggregated Service Data insights.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion5 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Akiba Digital operates AkibaOne, an API-first risk decisioning engine that aggregates 100+ datasets to deliver KYC/KYB verification, risk analysis, fraud intelligence, and open banking transaction data for businesses onboarding customers. The platform provides identity and business verification, affordability/liquidity/risk scoring with credit checks through TransUnion, Experian and VerifyID, AML/PEP and sanctions screening, and financial health forecasts, exposed via REST APIs and an embeddable origination widget. Pricing is volume-based, sold as subscriptions with usage-based overages, supported by a self-serve free trial and an enterprise sales motion.

Product overview

Akiba Digital offers a single unified risk decisioning SaaS platform, branded AkibaOne, that aggregates access to 100+ datasets through a modular suite of API products. The core platform is complemented by the Verification (KYC/KYB) module, the Risk Analysis API, and the Fraud Intelligence API, which together cover identity and business verification, affordability/liquidity/risk scoring (including credit checks via TransUnion, Experian, and VerifyID), AML/PEP screening, and financial health forecasts. Supporting modules — Bank Account Verification, AML/PEP Checks, Risk Scoring, Financial Insights, and Open Banking — plug into the same plug-and-play origination experience, and the Akiba Collaborate Program extends the ecosystem to African tech startups with free API credits and distribution partnerships.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• AkibaOne: AkibaOne is Akiba Digital's product platform / risk decisioning engine offering KYC/KYB verification, bank account verification, AML/PEP checks, risk scoring, financial insights, and open banking APIs for onboarding and risk assessment.

Products and services

• AkibaOne Flagship risk decisioning engine and SaaS platform that provides a single integration to 100+ datasets, with built-in risk analysis, fraud intelligence, configurable risk modules for character and capacity risk, and an origination widget to streamline digital onboarding for financial institutions and fintechs.
• Verification API (KYC/KYB) API product that runs automated KYC and KYB processes for businesses, covering business registration, identity number, bank account and phone number verification, plus biometric facial and fingerprint verification with liveness checks.
• Risk Analysis API API product that aggregates bank transaction history feeds or analyses bank statements to deliver affordability, liquidity and risk assessments, credit checks via TransUnion, Experian and VerifyID, and financial analysis and health forecasts.
• Fraud Intelligence API API product that uses advanced algorithms and real-time data analysis to perform AML/PEP checks, screen sanction and default listings, and flag suspicious user behaviour, tampered documents and information mismatches for financial service providers.

Quantifiable outcome

• Plans to connect 20,000+ SMEs to lenders via its credit scoring platform
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

Yes

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration6 records

AI capability6 records

Feature6 records

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Collaborate Program partner ecosystem (unnamed)coreGTM or Marketing Partner · 1 January 2024Launched in 2024, the Collaborate Program connects African tech startups and partners for mutual distribution, free API credits (up to 5,000) and partner tool discounts. Eligibility: founders/execs of tech companies built for Africa that are actively operating and open to strategic partnerships.
• Channel Partners (unnamed)minorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorAkiba enables Indirect Orders through approved third-party Channel Partners who can distribute, resell and support Akiba Products. Final sales price is freely and independently determined between the Channel Partner and the customer.

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Smile Identity: Pan-African identity verification and KYC/biometrics provider offering similar KYC, KYB, AML and fraud intelligence APIs to lenders and fintechs across the continent. Direct competitor in African digital identity and onboarding.
• Mono: African open-banking connectivity layer that aggregates bank transaction data for lending, KYC and risk use cases. Directly competes with Akiba's Open Banking + Risk Analysis stack across Nigeria and expanding markets.
• Stitch: South Africa-headquartered financial data connectivity platform providing consent-driven bank account and transaction data to lenders and fintechs. Closest geographic and functional competitor to Akiba's open banking + risk scoring offering.
• VerifyID: South African identity verification provider integrated as a credit/identity data source inside AkibaOne. Competes head-to-head in KYC and ID verification workflows for the same lender and fintech customers.

Broad incumbents

• Onfido (Entrust): Global KYC/AML and biometric verification incumbent, now part of Entrust, offering identity verification at scale across multiple continents. Broad incumbent competing for the same enterprise lender and fintech onboarding budget as Akiba.
• Plaid: Global open-banking and consumer financial data connectivity platform with similar transaction aggregation and risk-data products. Broad incumbent setting the benchmark for the developer experience Akiba is replicating for African banks.
• TransUnion: Global credit bureau whose data feeds power Akiba's Risk Scoring module; competes at the upstream data layer and could choose to disintermediate or vertically integrate similar functionality themselves.
• Experian: Global credit bureau and consumer credit analytics incumbent; supplies data into Akiba's product but also offers competing decisioning and risk analytics tools to African lenders directly.

Emerging players

• Veriff: Global identity verification provider expanding into emerging markets with biometric KYC/AML capabilities. Comparable on Verification and AML/PEP screening, with growing overlap as both chase fintech onboarding in Africa.

Regional players

• Flutterwave: Pan-African payments and fintech infrastructure platform that serves overlapping lender and fintech customers and is increasingly adding identity, KYC and risk-related capabilities adjacent to Akiba's stack.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/akibadigital

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds5 records

Investors12 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Akiba Digital