# DFS Lab

> DFS Lab is a VC fund in Seattle backing FinTech and Finance. See 46 investments, check sizes, portfolio and contact details. Updated Aug 2026.

- Type: VC Fund
- Location: Seattle, United States
- Total investments: 46
- Last investment: May 2026
- Lead investor: 30%
- Last updated: Aug 2026
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/dfslab
- X (Twitter): https://twitter.com/TheDFSLab
- Website: http://www.dfslab.net/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thedfslab

DFS Lab is a VC fund in Seattle focused on FinTech and Finance. Digital Financial Services Innovation Lab (DFS Lab) is an early-stage incubator that supports high potential entrepreneurs refine, grow and launch fintech businesses in developing countries. Focused on empowering communities in sub-Saharan Africa and South East Asia, DFS Lab delivers mentorship and strategic counsel to early-stage start-upspioneering transformative business models that empower the poorest, profitably, and at scale. We give the highest quality entrepreneurs access to extensive networks and relevant, world-class advice on how to build successful ventures that change the way low-income consumers interact with digital financial services.

## Contacts

5 contacts available for DFS Lab. Shizune tracks 4 team members at DFS Lab. Sign up free to unlock them: https://app.shizune.co/sign-up/investor-profiles/find-team-emails/dfs-lab?utm_source=investor_profile

## Investment focus

### Industry

| Industry | Investments | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| FinTech | 12 | 26% |
| Finance | 10 | 22% |
| Financial Services | 10 | 22% |
| Software | 7 | 15% |
| E-Commerce | 5 | 11% |

55 industries tracked in total.

### Stage

| Stage | Investments | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Seed | 16 | 35% |
| Pre-Seed | 15 | 33% |
| Series A | 3 | 7% |
| Funding Round | 3 | 7% |
| Angel | 1 | 2% |

7 stages tracked in total.

### Country

| Country | Investments | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Nigeria | 9 | 20% |
| Kenya | 7 | 15% |
| United States | 4 | 9% |
| Ghana | 2 | 4% |
| South Africa | 2 | 4% |

12 countries tracked in total.

## Team

| Name | Title | Investments | Profile |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Bob Aman | Advisor | 0 | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/bob-aman |
| Ben Lyon | Entrepreneur in Residence | 0 | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/ben-lyon |
| Jake Kendall | Founder and Director | 7 | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/jake-kendall |
| Stephen Deng | Partner | 4 | https://shizune.co/investors/profile/stephen-deng |

## Investments

| Company | Description | Amount | Stage | Date | Website |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Checker |  | $8M | Seed | May 19, 2026 |  |
| Stable Sea | Stable Sea provides seamless, compliant, cost-effective stablecoin offramping solutions, enabling businesses to bridge the gap between digital and traditional finance and unlock new opportunities. | $3.5M | Seed | Mar 19, 2025 |  |
| TurnStay | TurnStay helps travel industry to radically reduce payment costs and improve conversion. | $296.5K | Seed | Jul 15, 2024 |  |
| Nala | Nala is a FinTech company developing a mobile payments application to simplify money transfers and transactions without data connectivity. Their services include financial inclusion, digital financial services, mobile money, and fintech. | $40M | Series A | Jul 09, 2024 |  |
| Earna | Seamless Cross-Border Payment for freelancers, remote workers and SMBs | $250K | Pre-Seed | Nov 20, 2023 |  |
| ChowCentral | ChowCentral is an online food delivery platform that delivers food from different restaurants to customers. |  |  | Sep 06, 2023 |  |
| Chargel | Chargel is a freight brokerage platform that connects shippers and carriers with available loads. | $2M | Seed | Apr 19, 2023 |  |
| Payday | Payday is a fintech that offers global payment solutions such as Virtual Mastercards and foreign employee payments. | $3M | Seed | Mar 29, 2023 |  |
| Terraa | Terraa is a B2B distribution platform in Moroccan. | $1.5M | Pre-Seed | Feb 13, 2023 |  |
| Cutstruct | We build apps for building projects. Our apps are helping builders extend the value of every dollar and increasing the confidence of ordinary people to build. | $600K | Pre-Seed | Nov 10, 2022 |  |

10 of 46 investments shown.

## Co-investors
- [Hustle Fund](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/hustle-fund) — VC Fund, 6 deals together
- [Chandaria Capital](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/chandaria-capital) — VC Fund, 5 deals together
- [Golden Palm Investments](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/golden-palm-investments) — VC Fund, 5 deals together
- [HoaQ](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/hoaq) — VC Fund, 5 deals together
- [MAGIC Fund](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/magic-carpet) — VC Fund, 5 deals together
- [Ventures Platform](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/ventures-platform) — VC Fund, 5 deals together

## Similar investors

### Similar stage
- [Antler](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/antler-be9c) — VC Fund
- [Alumni Ventures](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/alumni-ventures-group) — VC Fund
- [Right Side Capital Management](https://shizune.co/investors/profile/right-side-capital-management) — VC Fund

## FAQ

### What does DFS Lab invest in?

DFS Lab invests primarily in FinTech, Finance and Financial Services startups, most often at Seed and Pre-Seed stage. Most of the 46 investments tracked by Shizune back companies in Nigeria. The Investment Focus section breaks down every industry, stage and country in the portfolio.

### How do I contact DFS Lab?

Public channels for DFS Lab include LinkedIn, X (Twitter) and the website linked on this profile. For a verified work email and phone number, create a free Shizune account — contact data is searched across 20+ sources and validated before delivery, so your outreach lands in the right inbox.

### Who are the partners at DFS Lab?

The team at DFS Lab includes Bob Aman (Advisor), Ben Lyon (Entrepreneur in Residence) and Jake Kendall (Founder and Director). The Team section lists each member with their title, investment count and links.

### Is Shizune's investor data accurate?

Yes — every stat on this profile is calculated from confirmed public funding rounds monitored across hundreds of sources since 2020. This profile was last refreshed in Aug 2026 and is updated monthly. Spotted something off? Use the “Suggest an edit” link near the top of the page.

# About Shizune
Shizune.co is an investor database. Core features:
- 48,091 startup investors (angels, VCs, accelerators, and others)
- Email, phone, LinkedIn (for intros), socials, and other contact data
- Updated daily from public funding news
- CSV and Excel export

The User can access the full database FOR FREE after signing up: shizune.co