Nigerian fintech, Sycamore has completed a private note offering that was oversubscribed by 113 per cent raising capital to significantly expand its lending operations to businesses across Africa’s largest economy.

The transaction, arranged by BAS Capital, closed last week in Lagos following investor demand that more than doubled the original offering size.
The oversubscription reflects growing institutional appetite for Nigeria’s MSME financing gap, which the IFC estimates at $32.2 billion in unmet credit demand.

Sycamore, which began as a peer-to-peer lending platform in 2019, has positioned itself as a technology-driven alternative to traditional business lending.

“The level of oversubscription validates our thesis that lending to Nigerian businesses represents one of the most compelling fintech opportunities in Africa. We’re seeing sophisticated capital recognize that technology can unlock credit.”access for businesses that have been systematically excluded by traditional banking,” CEO of Sycamore Group, Babatunde Akin-Moses said.

The note offering addresses a well-documented financing gap, with PwC’s 2024 MSME survey showing that domestic credit to Nigeria’s private sector stands at just 14.1 per cent of GDP, well below the 35.8 per cent average for Sub-Saharan Africa.

While commercial banks focus on larger firms, smaller businesses struggle to access formal financing due to documentation requirements and an underdeveloped credit infrastructure. Sycamore’s platform utilises proprietary algorithms to evaluate the creditworthiness of businesses in this underserved segment.

BAS Capital CEO, Abdulateef Hussein, who arranged the offering, said investor interest exceeded expectations.

“We initially structured a smaller note size, but after due diligence revealed Sycamore’s strong unit economics and growth trajectory, demand from note subscribers pushed us to increase the offering substantially,” Hussein explained.

The timing coincides with Sycamore’s regulatory expansion, having recently secured licensing from Nigeria’s Securities and Exchange Commission for fund management operations. The company also appointed Oluwagbenga Magbagbeola, former Managing Director of ARM Securities, to lead its asset management division.

“This capital injection positions us to serve underbanked business segments highlighted in recent PWC research. The data shows these businesses increasingly need alternatives to traditional banking, particularly for the smaller loan sizes that banks often find commercially unviable,” Magbagbeola said, whose capital markets expertise helped structure the note offering.

Since 2019, Sycamore has disbursed loans to thousands of Nigerian businesses while building a customer base of over 300,000 users. The platform’s technology-first approach has enabled it to serve businesses across various sectors, including retail, manufacturing, and services, segments that are often underserved by commercial banks.

The fresh capital will fund loan origination and expand Sycamore’s geographic reach across Nigeria’s 36 states. Co-founder and CFO, Mayowa Adeosun, stated that the company plans to significantly increase loan disbursements while maintaining its technology-driven underwriting standards.

MD of Plethoria Group, Emmanuel Egbumokei, who provided advisory services on the transaction, noted the successful note offering signals broader institutional confidence in Nigeria’s fintech sector.

“This demonstrates investor appetite for quality fintech assets despite macroeconomic headwinds,” he added. Founded by Akin-Moses, Onyinye Okonji, and Mayowa Adeosun, Sycamore has evolved from its peer-to-peer origins into a comprehensive financial services platform while maintaining its focus on business lending as a core revenue driver.