Africa’s Tech Growth Stories: Watu

Founded in 2015, Watu set out to address a critical gap in emerging markets: the lack of access to financing for income-generating assets among entrepreneurs in the informal economy. In this interview, Deputy CEO Paras Patel discusses how the company has grown into a global asset-financing platform—supporting mobility, connectivity, and sustainable economic participation across Africa and Latin America.

Can you tell us how Watu was created and what inspired its founding?

Watu was founded in 2015 with a simple but important observation: across many emerging markets, millions of hardworking people are excluded from traditional financial systems despite having the ability and motivation to build sustainable livelihoods.

In East Africa in particular, motorcycles and three-wheelers are not just vehicles; they are income-generating tools that enable mobility services, logistics, and access to markets. However, most entrepreneurs operating in the informal economy cannot access the financing required to purchase these assets.

Watu was created to bridge that gap. The company began by financing motorcycles for boda-boda (two-wheeler taxi) riders in Kenya and has since evolved into a global asset-financing platform focused on productive assets and connectivity tools. Our goal has always been to enable individuals to participate more fully in the economy by providing access to the tools they need to earn.

Today, that approach has expanded across multiple markets and asset categories, but the core principle remains the same: unlocking opportunity for the underserved through responsible access to productive assets.