Convergence Partners has led a new Series C funding round in Yellow, an African fintech that finances smartphones and off-grid solar systems for low income households.
The round size was not disclosed, but it marks the third time Convergence Partners has backed the company, deepening a relationship that began with Yellow’s Series A and has now carried through Series B, Series C and multiple debt facilities.
A Repeat Bet on the Same Model
The Yellow fintech Series C Africa round will fund expansion across the seven countries where Yellow already operates: Malawi, Zambia, Uganda, Rwanda, Madagascar, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Nigeria.
Yellow was founded in Malawi in 2018 by Mike Heyink and Maya Stewart, initially to bring solar power to a country with some of the lowest electrification rates in the world.
The business has since expanded into smartphone financing, using the same asset backed credit approach that shaped its solar offering from the start.
Convergence Partners Yellow investment history stretches back to 2023, when the firm led a 14 million dollar Series B round through its roughly 300 million dollar Digital Infrastructure Fund, alongside the Energy Entrepreneurs Growth Fund and follow on capital from Platform Investment Partners.
Convergence Partners CEO Brandon Doyle said Yellow has demonstrated significant progress since that initial investment, a track record that appears to have made the Series C an easier call for a firm already familiar with the company’s numbers and operating model.
How the Asset-Backed Model Works
Yellow’s core innovation is off-grid solar smartphone credit Africa consumers can access without a formal credit history or collateral in the traditional sense.
Customers pay for solar home systems and smartphones through structured installments, with the device itself serving as security for the loan.
Yellow uses AI enabled credit assessment to evaluate applicants, an approach designed to extend financing to unbanked and underbanked customers who would otherwise be shut out of formal lending.
READ ALSO :How Jumia’s $50 Million Raise and Strong Q2 Results Point Toward 2027 Profitability
The model addresses what Convergence Partners has described as a triple challenge across the continent: expanding access to power, broadening connectivity, and offering affordable credit to marginalized communities, all through a single distribution channel.
Because the underlying asset, whether a solar unit or a smartphone, can be repossessed or remotely disabled in the event of default, Yellow is able to extend credit at a lower risk profile than an unsecured lender would face in the same markets.
Scale and What Comes Next
Yellow has now served more than one million customers and employs over 200 people across its operating markets. The company has set its sights considerably higher.
The Yellow fintech 10 million customers 2030 target reflects the company’s ambition to become one of the largest asset finance platforms on the continent, using smartphones and solar systems as an entry point into broader financial inclusion.
Yellow founder and CEO Mike Heyink said the new capital allows the company to broaden its impact across the continent, positioning the Series C as fuel for that next phase of growth rather than a shift in strategy.
Reaching that scale will test more than capital access. As Yellow grows across markets with different regulatory environments, currencies and repayment behaviors, its ability to maintain credit quality, control financing costs and manage distribution consistently will matter as much as the size of any funding round.
The company’s expansion into smartphone financing alongside its original solar business suggests Yellow is betting that the same underwriting playbook can travel across product categories, not just across borders.
Why Investors Keep Coming Back
Convergence Partners’ repeated investment in Yellow reflects a broader pattern among Africa focused impact investors, who have increasingly favored asset backed lending models over unsecured microfinance in markets where credit bureaus and formal financial records remain thin.
Off-grid solar and asset finance startups have attracted more than 2.3 billion dollars in funding over the past decade, according to industry estimates, with cleantech emerging as one of the most consistently funded sectors on the continent alongside fintech.
For Convergence Partners, doubling down on Yellow through a third consecutive funding round signals confidence that the asset backed model can scale profitably even as the company pushes deeper into new markets and product lines.
Whether Yellow can convert that confidence into 10 million paying customers by 2030 will depend on execution as much as capital, but the repeat backing from an investor that has watched the company closely since 2023 offers an early vote of confidence in its direction.
Leave a Reply