Liquify

Liquify operates a fully digital trade finance platform that provides invoice financing to African SME exporters. Exporters who typically wait 30-90 days for payment on export invoices upload an invoice to the platform, which runs KYC/AML and credit checks and funds the invoice within hours rather than weeks. The company positions itself as a marketplace connecting African SMEs with global capital markets, converting export receivables into short-term working capital.

On the supply side, Liquify offers financiers exposure to an asset class it describes as asset-backed and backed by investment-grade multinational buyers, with investment tenors of roughly one to six months and low correlation to equities and bonds. The company frames its addressable problem as Africa's estimated $120 billion trade finance gap, and states that its pricing compares favourably to prevailing local loan interest rates of 30-40%.

Founding story

The founders built Liquify in 2023 around the observation that African SME exporters wait 30-90 days for payment on export invoices, creating a working capital gap that limits their ability to fulfil orders and scale, and that Africa's trade finance gap of roughly $120 billion leaves these businesses underserved by banks.

Business model

Liquify runs an invoice financing marketplace: African SME exporters submit unpaid export invoices, which are assessed and funded through capital supplied by financiers/investors on the platform. The end-to-end digital platform automates onboarding, KYC/AML, credit assessment and settlement. A debt facility from Emerald Africa supplements the capital available for funding SME customers.

The company states it offers financing at a fraction of the cost of alternatives, referencing local loan interest rates of 30-40%, and offers financiers returns on short-tenor (1-6 month) invoice assets.

Traction

Since a beta launch in late 2024, the company reported facilitating more than 150 transactions totalling approximately $4 million in trade financed, as of July 2025.

Latest developments

In July 2025 Liquify announced an oversubscribed $1.5 million seed round led by Future Africa, with Launch Africa, 54 Collective, Digital Africa, Equitable Ventures and strategic angel investors participating, plus an extended debt facility from Emerald Africa. Proceeds are earmarked for scaling the Ghanaian hub, hiring across product, technology and customer success, regional expansion into Anglophone and Francophone markets, and enhancing AI-driven due diligence, KYC/AML and credit-scoring engines.