Where is DFS Lab's headquarters located?

DFS Lab's headquarters is located in Seattle (United States).

How big is DFS Lab's investment team?

DFS Lab has a team of 7, including 3 partners.

How many companies has DFS Lab invested in?

DFS Lab has invested in 40 companies, including NALA & Pula.

Which companies has DFS Lab invested in lately?

Checker & Stable Sea are the latest investments by DFS Lab.

How many exits has DFS Lab been involved in?

DFS Lab's portfolio has seen 3 acquisitions.

DFS Lab - 2026 Investor Profile, Portfolio, Team & Investment Trends

DFS Lab, an accelerator and incubator program founded in 2016, is based in Seattle, United States. With a presence in 14 countries, it has supported around 40 startups in sectors like Enterprise Applications, FinTech. As of May 2026, DFS Lab has witnessed 3 portfolio exits. Most notable companies in its portfolio include NALA, Pula and Bumpa. The program is backed by a team of 7 people who primarily support Seed startups based in Kenya. Its latest investment was a $8M Seed round in Checker on May 19, 2026, which also saw participation from Galaxy and Al Mada Ventures.

Key Metrics

Founded Year

2016

Location

Seattle, United States

Portfolio Companies

NALA, Pula & 38 more

Sectors of Investment

Enterprise Applications, FinTech & 16 more

Stages of Investment

Seed, Grant (prize money) & 3 more

Locations of Investment

Kenya, Nigeria & 12 more

View DFS Lab's full profile

DFS Lab has a portfolio of 40 companies. Their most notable investments are in Teller and Tanda.Their portfolio spans across Kenya, Nigeria, United States and 11 more locations. They have invested in Enterprise Applications, FinTech, Food and Agriculture Tech and 15 other sectors, across stages such as Seed, Grant (prize money) and 3 more. Here is the list of top investments by DFS Lab:

1. NALA

Online cross-border remittance platform for individuals. It enables users to send and receive money globally using banking channels. Users must link the debit and credit cards for transferring funds. It features multilingual customer support, recurring transfers, and more. The application is available on Android and iOS platforms.

Key facts about NALA

Founded Year: 2017
Location: Nairobi (Kenya)
Stage: Series A
Total Funding till date: $50.1M
Employee Count: 259 as on Apr 30, 2026
Investors: DST Global, Bessemer Venture Partners and 20 Others
Latest Funding Round: Series A, Jul 09, 2024, $*****
Highlight: Editors' Pick

2. Pula

Insurtech and data science solutions empowering smallholder farmers in Africa and Asia. The company delivers climate insurance and data-driven solutions, offering area yield index insurance and hybrid livestock insurance to protect against climate events. It empowers agribusinesses with data services for traceability and supply chain mapping, ensuring compliance with regulations. Through public-private partnerships, the company provides policy advice and market intelligence to strengthen agricultural risk management and financial inclusion. The company operates across multiple countries, focusing on local partnerships and inclusive growth. It leverages technology to build a database on smallholder farmer productivity, unlocking insights for agrarian revolution in emerging markets. The company partners with reinsurers, insurers, and governments to deliver scalable agricultural insurance, turning risk into resilience. It offers data solutions, geospatial insights, and impact assessments to optimize interventions and drive results for industry and regional development.

Key facts about Pula

Founded Year: 2015
Location: Mollis (Switzerland)
Stage: Series B
Total Funding till date: $27M
Employee Count: 524 as on Apr 30, 2026
Investors: IFC, Accion and 15 Others
Latest Funding Round: Series B, Apr 15, 2024, $*****
Highlight: Editors' Pick

3. Bumpa

Provider of suite solution for businesses. The platform helps to create an online store. Its features include manage orders & products, track sales, share products across Facebook, Instagram & Twitter, payment gateway, inventory management, sales reports, and send notifications to the customers directly through the app. The company offers mobile applications for Android and iOS devices. The company offers the solution on subscription-based policy.

Key facts about Bumpa

Founded Year: 2020
Location: Lekki (Nigeria)
Stage: Seed
Total Funding till date: $4.2M
Employee Count: 57 as on Apr 30, 2026
Investors: DFS Lab, Base10 Partners and 18 Others
Latest Funding Round: Seed, Oct 19, 2022, $*****
Highlight: Editors' Pick

4. Appetito

Online platform offering multi-category grocery products. Its product offerings include fruits & vegetables, dairy, snacks, drinks & beverages, spices, home care products, baby care products, other accessories, and more. Its mobile application is available on Android and iOS platforms.

Key facts about Appetito

Founded Year: 2020
Location: Cairo (Egypt)
Stage: Seed
Total Funding till date: $2.55M
Employee Count: 116 as on Apr 30, 2026
Investors: DFS Lab, Jedar Capital and 7 Others
Latest Funding Round: Seed, Aug 15, 2022, $*****
Highlight: Editors' Pick

5. ORDA

Provider of an online platform for restaurant management solutions. The platform offers point-of-sale, inventory management, business analytics, and others.

Key facts about ORDA

Founded Year: 2020
Location: Lagos (Nigeria)
Stage: Acquired
Total Funding till date: $4.5M
Employee Count: 61 as on Apr 30, 2026
Investors: Quona, FinTech Collective and 19 Others
Latest Funding Round: Seed, Nov 07, 2024, $*****
Highlight: Acquired

View the full list of portfolio companies

DFS Lab has invested in 40 companies over the last 10 years, with an average of 3 new investments annually in the last 10 years. In 2025, it made 1 investment, while as of May 2026, it has made 1 investment in this year. Its most recent first time investment was in Checker and most recent follow-on round was in Bumpa.

Here are DFS Lab's Year-on-Year Investment Trends:

Year	No. of Investments
Year	1^st Round	Follow-on	Total
2026 (YTD)	1	0	1
2025	1	0	1
2024	1	0	1
2023	3	0	3
2022	7	2	9
2021	5	2	7
2020	2	0	2
2019	1	0	1
2018	2	1	3
2017	5	0	5

View all investments by DFS Lab

DFS Lab has made 26 investments in Seed stage with an average round size of $2.44M, 2 investments in Grant (prize money) stage with an average round size of $100K, 1 investment in Angel stage with an average round size of $100K, 1 investment in Series A stage with an average round size of $10M and 1 investment in Unattributed stage.

Here are DFS Lab's investments by stage:

Stage of entry	No. of Investments
Seed	26
Grant (prize money)	2
Angel	1
Series A	1
Unattributed	1

Note: We have considered here, only first round of investments

View all investments by DFS Lab

DFS Lab has a diverse portfolio, with companies operating in the FinTech, Enterprise Applications, Consumer, Food and Agriculture Tech and High Tech. Notably, it has invested in 32 Tech companies, 22 Enterprise (B2B) companies, 18 Software companies and at least 13 companies focusing on Consumer (B2C).

Here are DFS Lab's investments by sector:

Sector	No. of Investments
FinTech	14
Enterprise Applications	9
Consumer	8
Food and Agriculture Tech	5
High Tech	4
Others	26

Note: We have considered here, only first round of investments

View all investments by DFS Lab

DFS Lab has made most investments in Kenya (7), followed by Nigeria where it has made 7 investments.

Here are DFS Lab's investments by geography:

Country	No. of Investments
Kenya	7
Nigeria	7
United States	3
South Africa	2
United Kingdom	2
Others	11

Note: We have considered here, only first round of investments

View all investments by DFS Lab

DFS Lab has made 1 investments in 2026 so far - Checker.

Here are the most recent investments by DFS Lab:

Filter this list

Date	Company	Location	Round Details	Round Amount	Co-Investors
May 19, 2026	Checker	United States	Seed	8869	Galaxy [+7]
Mar 19, 2025	Stable Sea	United States	Seed	6742	Kindred Ventures [+3]
Jul 16, 2024	TurnStay	South Africa	Seed	2952	Digital Currency Group
Mar 29, 2023	Payday	Canada	Seed	5071	Moniepoint [+12]
Feb 14, 2023	Terraa	Morocco	Seed	3740	FoodLabs [+3]

See more recent investments made by DFS Lab

3 companies from DFS Lab's portfolio have been acquired. The most recent acquisition was ORDA in Mar 2026 by Moniepoint for $*****.

Here are DFS Lab's portfolio companies that got acquired most recently:

Filter this list

Company	Acquisition Date	First Invested on	First Round of Investment	Round Size
ORDA	Mar 23, 2026	Jan 18, 2022	Seed	5077
Payday	Dec 05, 2023	Mar 29, 2023	Seed	8152
Sendchamp	Sep 14, 2023	Dec 07, 2021	Angel	2404

View all acquired companies in DFS Lab's portfolio

DFS Lab has a team of 7 members including 3 Partners located in France, United States and 1 more location. DFS Lab's team does not sit on the board of any company as of now.

Here is a list of all team members in DFS Lab:

Name	Designation	Location	Board Memberships	Contact Details
Stephen Deng	Partner	San Francisco	-	1 Email
Jake Kendall	Partner	Paris	-	1 Email
Joseph Benson-Aruna	Partner	Lagos	-	1 Email

View team details of DFS Lab

Over the past 10 years, 209 investors have co-invested in DFS Lab's portfolio companies. This includes funds and angels.

Invested before DFS Lab: Accel, Y Combinator and 18 others have invested in rounds before DFS Lab. There is 1 company where Accel has invested before DFS Lab and 1 company where Y Combinator has invested before DFS Lab.
Top Co-investors of DFS Lab: 100 investors entered a company along with DFS Lab. These include investors like HoaQ (4 companies).
Invested after DFS Lab: A total of 89 investors have invested in DFS Lab's portfolio after their investments. Top Investors include Womens World Banking (2 companies) and Acrew Capital (1 company).