Why We Invested: Littlefish is Reconnecting Banks with Africa’s >80 Million SMEs
When and how did TLcom initially meet Brandon Roberts (co-founder and CEO of Littlefish) and his co-founding team? What stood out?
Littlefish is TLcom’s first investment in South Africa. We met Brandon and his co-founders through the Aspen Network in late 2022. In our early discussions, we were impressed by three things. Firstly, Brandon’s courage and ambition to leave a corporate job in enterprise software to start a high-growth technology venture early in his career. Secondly, the team has a deep understanding of the fintech industry. Their vision to empower banks to counter the rise of fintechs by more efficiently acquiring and better servicing small and medium-sized companies was clear from day one. Finally, Littlefish’s partnership with Visa is significant because it gives the company a major competitive edge by enabling it to launch with solid tie-ins with Visa’s partner banks. Visa has clearly also seen the massive value in the company's mission and product.
What was Brandon’s motivation to build Littlefish? What problem is the company addressing?
Africa has over 80 million small and medium-sized companies, which account for over 80% of employment on the continent. Despite their importance to African economies, they are currently not adequately served by either incumbent traditional banks or challenger fintechs. SMEs often struggle to access tailored financial services, and banks offer untailored solutions that largely fail to cater to their specific needs. Littlefish aims to help banks meet the needs of this segment with a comprehensive digital and technology platform that allows a bank’s customer to streamline financial operations, boost sales, secure credit access, and access digital payment processing services. With its technology, the company is driving economic growth and enabling wealth creation for small business owners, the continent’s primary base of economic activity.
What is the nature of the market opportunity Littlefish is addressing?
Littlefish’s market opportunity is significant. According to McKinsey, 80 to 90 million SMEs on the continent are looking to move to embrace online trading opportunities, including digital payments. The sector is projected to grow at an incredible 30% per annum and reach $13 billion in payments revenues alone by 2025. These enterprises are crucial in job creation and GDP growth in Africa.
While banks are looking to tap into this market segment, they need more agility and proximity to serve SMEs effectively and are currently losing ground to many of the new fintech entrants. Through Littlefish's B2B model, which leverages banks' customer bases, and its partnerships with some of Africa’s biggest banks, the startup is well-positioned to address this opportunity and bring millions of underserved SMEs under the umbrella of traditional financial institutions. By powering a bank’s SME service offering, Littefish enables it to deliver a complete service to small and medium-sized businesses beyond payments alone.
What is unique about the service Littlefish offers?
Littlefish is playing a pivotal role in simplifying online trading for SMEs, addressing challenges like technical literacy and complex market entry barriers. The company’s innovative, all-in-one, easy-to-use platform is designed to be straightforward and user-friendly. It also connects SMEs to customers, wholesalers, and financial service providers. Designed for how small business owners work, the platform addresses multiple aspects of business operations, across digital advertising, sales, business management and customer engagement, provided as separate modules or a holistic bundle.
Why is TLcom excited about the Littlefish investment?
We’re excited about Littlefish for a few reasons. The team is strong and deeply experienced in enterprise software sales and financial services, bringing a track record of building valuable relationships with tier 1 banks across Africa. The Visa partnership – a testament to Brandon’s and the team’s ambition, determination and grit – further strengthens that ability.
We find Littlefish’s thesis of enabling banks to respond to competition from fintechs in serving the SME segment compelling. We also see an opportunity for the company’s model to travel beyond Africa, once scale has been achieved here, to serve similar needs in developing economies in the Global South. Backing a bright young team alongside a strong co-investor in Flourish Ventures, we are proud to have Littlefish as TLcom’s first South Africa investment.
