Shakir Merali
Partner @ Lightrock
Shakir Merali is a seed investor at Lightrock focused on Credit and FinTech. Shakir Merali
- Total investments:
- 2
- Last investment:
- Lead investor:
- 50%
Last updated:
For AI agents: llms.txt
Industries Shakir Merali invests in
Stages Shakir Merali invests in
Countries Shakir Merali invests in
Investment Focus
Industry
- Credit 1 (50%)
- FinTech 1 (50%)
- Lending 1 (50%)
- Software 1 (50%)
- Health Care 1 (50%)
Stage
- Seed 1 (50%)
- Series C 1 (50%)
Country
- Kenya 1 (50%)
- Mauritius 1 (50%)
Investments
| Company | Description | Round | Links |
|---|---|---|---|
4G Capital
|
4G Capital has supported micro-enterprises in Africa since 2013, providing financial literacy training with working capital loans to help small businesses grow sustainably. 4G Capital clients receive a bespoke programme of business training to help them use micro-loans to achieve much higher take-home earnings. 4G Capital’s proprietorialmachine learning technology delivers high fidelity insights from traditionally data dark sectors. We design scalable credit products and services optimized for clients’ business risks, timescales and affordability. Training is delivered via mobile apps and face-to-face outreach. Using only mobile money, loans are accessed in under two minutes with either smart or feature phones.4G Capital directly addresses the Finance Gap across Africa. This stands at over $19 billion for Micro and SMEs in Kenya alone (source: IFC), even though this important segment accounts for over 30% of GDP. It is almost impossible for these companies to access credit without high collateral and data requirements. Over 30% of small businesses fail due to lack of funding. 4G Capital consistently achieves very high collections rates without collateral or refinancing its clients, by only lending to viable businesses on terms that are right for them. 4G Capital is on target to positively impact over 1 million people by 2020. With operations in Kenya and Uganda, and having received multiple industry awards, 4G Capital is now scaling across the continent and expanding its suite of products and services as Africa’s Fastest Fintech. Key achievements to date:· >94% collection rates without refinancing clients · Net Promoter Score 72 · Clients increase revenues by average 82% · 81% Women Customers · 82% Repeat Customers · 77% Rural Clients · 94% Increased financial literacy · $32M worth of loans to date · >50 locations in Kenya and expanding in Uganda and beyond · Partnership retail credit service plugs in to distributor systems to boost value chain sales | $18.5M / Series C / Mar 15, 2022 | |
Ilara Health
|
Ilara Health brings accurate and affordable diagnostics to rural Africans through miniature, AI-powered diagnostic devices that are integrated via a proprietary technology platform and distributed directly to primary care doctors. | $735K / Seed / Aug 07, 2019 |
Co-Investors
About Lightrock
Lightrock is a global growth capital platform that backs purpose-driven entrepreneurs tackling the world’s biggest challenges. Lightrock invests in companies that pursue scalable and tech-driven business models around the key impact themes of people, planet, and productivity/tech for good. Lightrock’s portfolio includes more than 90high-growth companies across Europe, US, Latin America, India and Africa, supported by more than 100 Lightrock professionals based in 6 global offices. Lightrock is backed by LGT, the international private banking and asset management group, and other leading global institutions.For more information, please visit www.lightrock.com.
Lightrock Contacts
| Name | Phone | Socials | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Alex Muchoki
Vice President
|
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Ashish (Ash) Puri
Growth Investor
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Florian Ulmer
Partner and COO
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Kartik Srivatsa
Managing Partner, India and Global Chief Strategy Officer
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Kevin Bone
Partner
|
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FAQ
What does Shakir Merali invest in?
Shakir Merali invests primarily in Credit, FinTech and Lending startups, most often at Seed and Series C stage. Most of the 2 investments tracked by Shizune back companies in Kenya. The Investment Focus section breaks down every industry, stage and country in the portfolio.
When did Shakir Merali last invest?
The most recent investment recorded for Shakir Merali closed in Mar 2022. Shizune tracks 2 investments in total for this profile, including round sizes, stages and portfolio companies, all sourced from confirmed public funding rounds and refreshed monthly.
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.
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