Koa

What Koa does

Koa, operating under the Lotus brand, is a Kenya-based fintech that provides a unified digital business banking platform for small and medium-sized enterprises. Founded around 2020-2021 and headquartered in Nairobi, the company targets Kenyan SMEs — spanning fashion, trading, food service, beauty, logistics, branding, and capital services — that are underserved by traditional banks and fragmented across M-Pesa, Paybill, Till, and bank-transfer channels. Lotus positions itself as an all-in-one alternative combining business current accounts, bulk disbursements, invoice collections, multi-currency treasury, accounting/ERP integrations, and fixed deposit access behind a single dashboard.

The platform is cloud-based with a web and mobile interface, and includes role-based access controls, two-factor authentication, and an external API surface for developer and partner integration. Critically, Koa is not itself a licensed bank: banking services are delivered in partnership with Choice Microfinance Bank Limited, a Central Bank of Kenya-regulated institution, with each customer issued a Koa Bank Account at the partner bank. This is the core infrastructure enabling deposits, payments, RTGS/EFT, M-Pesa flows, fixed deposits, and forex; Koa additionally announced a forthcoming Working Capital lending module to extend credit to verified business customers.

Koa monetizes primarily on a pay-as-you-go transaction-fee basis on payments, collections, and forex, claims up to 30% transaction-fee savings versus alternatives, reserves the right to charge subscription or account-maintenance fees, and intends to earn interest income on lending via the Working Capital module. Distribution is hybrid: self-serve product-led growth targeted at Kenyan SMEs (sign-up in under 10 minutes via app.withlotus.com/register), supported by a Calendly-based inside-sales/demo motion for larger prospects and an API path for developer/partner integrations. The company partners with Zoho for accounting/ERP connectivity and operates from Rhapta Heights, Raphta Road, Nairobi.

Name

Koa

Legal name

Koa Save Africa Limited

Website

https://withlotus.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2021

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Koa operates Lotus, a digital business banking platform serving Kenyan SMEs with business accounts, bulk payments, invoicing, multi-currency treasury, and accounting/ERP integrations delivered in partnership with CBK-regulated Choice Microfinance Bank.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Digital Business Banking

NAICS

Software Publishers (51321), Software Publishers (513210)

SIC

Services-Prepackaged Software (7372)

akta.pro primary industry

SME Cash Management & Payments (Merchant, ACH/Wires, Payroll) (FSABABAD)

akta.pro secondary industries

SME Lending Platforms & Embedded SME Credit (FSAKAGAJ), Order-to-Cash (O2C) Operations (Order Admin, Credit, Invoicing, Collections Handoff) (BPAAAGAK), Accounts Payable (Invoice Processing, 2/3-Way Match, Vendor Payments) (BPAAAGAA)

Keywords

• Digital business banking
• SME financial management
• Bulk payment disbursements
• Embedded finance API
• Savings as a service

Headquarters

HQ city

Nairobi

HQ country

Kenya

HQ region

Africa

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Transaction Fees: Fees charged on payment and collection transactions (M-Pesa, RTGS/EFT, bulk payments, airtime purchases, deposits). Users are informed of all fees per a pricing and fees schedule. The platform claims to offer savings of up to 30% on transaction fees compared to alternatives. Fees can be debited from the user's account as per the schedule.
2. Account / Subscription Fees: Koa reserves the right to institute and charge account-related or subscription-related fees (e.g., account maintenance fees) at its discretion, which would be communicated to users.
3. Credit / Lending: Koa provides loans to verified business customers. Loans are disbursed to the customer's Koa Bank Account. Interest is charged on loans for the duration of the loan term. Penalty interest is applied for late repayments. Koa conducts credit checks and sets Capital Limits for each borrower.
4. Forex Service Fees: Koa plays an intermediary role in forex transactions facilitated by the Partner Bank. Koa reserves the right to charge a service fee for providing currency price information and enabling forex transactions between the Partner Bank and the user.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels9 records

Core offering

Koa (operating as Lotus) provides a digital business banking platform for Kenyan SMEs through web and mobile applications. The platform offers business current accounts (backed by Choice Microfinance Bank Limited), bulk payment disbursements, invoice management and collections, multi-currency forex services, fixed deposits, and Zoho accounting integration. Koa also exposes API infrastructure that allows partners and developers to integrate financial services programmatically.

Product overview

Lotus is a unified digital business banking platform for Kenyan SMEs, built by Koa Save Africa Limited (Koa Technology Inc). The platform operates as a comprehensive suite combining a business current account (partnered with Choice Microfinance Bank, CBK-regulated), bulk disbursements, collections with multiple payment methods (invoices, payment links, QR codes, M-Pesa STK push), multi-currency forex services, and accounting integrations. The core Lotus platform serves as the central interface, with product modules including Disbursements (bulk payments with fee savings), Collections (invoice and payment link generation), Integrations (Zoho accounting connectivity), Forex (KSH/USD multi-currency management), Business Current Account, Invoices, Cashflow Visibility, Fixed Deposit facilitation, and the forthcoming Working Capital financing module.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Lotus (Digital Business Banking Platform) Cloud-based web and mobile banking platform for Kenyan SMEs that aggregates business accounts, bulk disbursements, collections, invoicing, multi-currency forex, cashflow visibility, fixed deposits, and Zoho accounting integration; designed for small and medium-sized businesses that need a unified alternative to traditional bank portals.
• Business Current Account (via Choice Microfinance Bank) Business current account for Kenyan SMEs, provided through Koa's partnership with Choice Microfinance Bank Limited (CBK-regulated), and accessible through the Lotus platform.
• Fixed Deposit (via Choice Microfinance Bank) Fixed deposit product for SME customers, facilitated through Koa's partnership with Choice Microfinance Bank Limited and managed within the Lotus platform.

Quantifiable outcome

• Save up to 30% on transaction fees when using bulk payment disbursements vs. individual payment channels
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers7 records

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

Yes

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration1 record

Feature7 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Choice Microfinance Bank LimitedcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerChoice Microfinance Bank Limited is the primary banking partner of Lotus/Koa. It is a Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) regulated entity. All payment and transaction services (including Lotus to M-Pesa, RTGS/EFT, deposits, loan payments) are actioned by Choice Microfinance Bank. A unique Koa Bank Account is created for each customer with Choice MFI. Choice MFI also provides fixed deposit products and forex services accessible through the Lotus platform. This is the core infrastructure partnership underpinning all of Lotus's banking services.

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Emerging players

• Okra: African open-banking API platform providing connectivity to banks and financial institutions for developers building fintech products. Comparable to Lotus's API-first strategy of exposing payments and banking functionality to third parties, with overlap on the embedded finance thesis.
• Kuda Bank: Nigeria-headquartered digital-only commercial bank offering business and consumer accounts via a mobile-first platform. Comparable to Lotus as an emerging digital business banking challenger in Africa using a banking-partner-led, app-driven model, though operating in a different geography.
• Branch International: Africa-focused digital lending and payments platform originating in Kenya, providing loans to consumers and small businesses via mobile. Comparable to Lotus on the SME credit side, though Branch is primarily a lender rather than a full business banking suite.
• Tala: Kenya-founded digital lender providing credit to consumers and small businesses via mobile apps. Comparable to Lotus's working-capital lending product, but operating at significantly larger scale and focused primarily on credit rather than full-stack business banking.

Direct peers

• Duplo: Nigeria-based B2B payments platform enabling businesses to make bulk payouts, collect payments, and manage treasury across bank and mobile money channels. Highly comparable to Lotus on the bulk disbursements and collections stack for African SMEs.
• Cellulant: Pan-African payments infrastructure provider offering mobile money, collections, disbursements, and banking APIs across multiple African markets. Comparable to Lotus in building payment rails and APIs for businesses integrating M-Pesa, banks, and mobile money channels.
• Kopo Kopo: Nairobi-based fintech providing payments, working capital, and business banking tools to Kenyan SMEs via APIs and mobile apps. Kopo Kopo is the most direct peer to Lotus, targeting the same Kenyan SME segment with a similar banking-partner-led, API-first model.

Broad incumbents

• Equity Bank (EazzyBiz): Equity Bank is one of Kenya's largest banks with a deep SME franchise and a digital business banking product (EazzyBiz) offering bulk payments, collections, and account management. Directly comparable to Lotus as a competitor targeting the same Kenyan SME banking segment.
• Safaricom M-Pesa Business: M-Pesa's business-facing products (Paybill, Till, Lipa na M-Pesa) are the dominant payment rails Lotus integrates and competes against. M-Pesa is the most important ecosystem player for Kenyan SME payments and represents both a key dependency and the largest competitive threat.
• Flutterwave: Pan-African payments technology company enabling businesses to send/receive money, accept card and mobile money payments, and access APIs. Compares to Lotus as a higher-scale, multi-country incumbent operating in the same SME payments space.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xtwitter.com/withlotus_?s=11&t=tVjsBpq59taci5oWhcOVZg
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/withlotus/mycompany/?viewAsMember=true

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles12 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors1 record

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 Koa