Inside Pezesha: Hilda Moraa on Credit, Capital & Building for the Long Term

What does it really take to build a fintech for the long term in Africa? In the first episode of Preneur Today Season 2, I sit down with Hilda Moraa, founder of Pezesha, for a candid conversation about building one of Kenya’s most interesting fintech companies, the realities of SME credit, capital, financial inclusion — and what nearly a decade of entrepreneurship has taught her about resilience. Pezesha has evolved significantly over the years: from lending and embedded finance toward AI-driven credit infrastructure, with its Patascore technology using alternative data to help financial institutions make better credit decisions for African SMEs. But this conversation goes well beyond the company story. We get into: What Hilda learned from building a second company after already experiencing entrepreneurial success Why building Pezesha has been so different from building her first company What nearly a decade of building does to a founder’s definition of resilience How Pezesha’s understanding of Africa’s SME credit problem has evolved The difference between providing loans and building the infrastructure that enables others to lend AI, alternative data and who gets access to credit What responsible financial inclusion looks like when a borrower struggles to repay Equity, debt and how different kinds of capital should be used in a lending business What venture-backed founders eventually learn about growth, profitability and durability What Hilda believes today that the younger entrepreneur who wrote A Kenyan Startup Journey: My 10 Key Lessons could not yet have known If you care about African entrepreneurship, fintech, SME finance, venture capital, startup funding, financial inclusion, AI in lending or what it really takes to build and scale a company in Africa, this episode is for you. 🎙️ Subscribe to Preneur Today on YouTube for more in-depth conversations with Africa’s female founders and operators. 🎧 Prefer audio? Follow Preneur Today on Spotify or Apple Podcasts: https://preneur-today.carrd.co/ About Hilda Moraa: Hilda Moraa is a repeat entrepreneur and the founder of Pezesha, a Kenyan fintech focused on expanding access to working capital and credit infrastructure for African SMEs. About Preneur Today: Preneur Today goes beyond the polished founder story — into the pivots, capital decisions, mistakes, disagreements and conviction behind the companies being built across Africa. #PreneurToday #HildaMoraa #Pezesha #AfricanStartups #FintechAfrica