M-KOPA secures term sheet for about $160 million Series F led by Sumitomo

M-KOPA, the Kenya- and UK-based consumer finance company, was nearing the close of about $160 million in Series F equity financing led by Japan's Sumitomo Corporation as of 24 July 2025, according to a notification sent to its shareholders. Sumitomo is a longtime investor in the company, having invested in M-KOPA in 2019 and taken part in a further capital increase in May 2023.

About half of the round was set to provide new primary capital, with the other half funding secondary sales that allow early shareholders and participants in the company's employee share ownership plan to exit. New shares were priced at about $37.02 each, while shares in the secondary transaction were priced at about $27.15 for preferred shares and $26 for ordinary shares.

COMPANY BACKGROUND

Founded in 2011, M-KOPA provides pay-as-you-go financing for products including smartphones, solar lighting, household appliances and electric motorcycles, working through a network of more than 30,000 agents. The company has issued more than $1.5 billion in credit to more than five million customers across its product lines and employs more than 2,000 staff.

M-KOPA has raised more than $590 million in debt, equity and grants since its founding. Its earlier backers include Shell Foundation, Acumen, Blue Haven Initiative, Generation Investment Management and British International Investment.

SHAREHOLDER PETITION

The funding round comes as M-KOPA faces a petition filed in May 2025 at Kenya's Employment and Labour Relations Court, which alleges that a restructuring of the company's shareholdings between 2019 and 2022 caused disproportionate and irregular dilution of ordinary shareholders and employee share plan participants. M-KOPA has denied the allegations.