Oze, the only Ghanaian Startup named to the 2025 Norrsken Impact 100
Accra, Ghana — October 21, 2025 — Oze, the company on a mission to build 100 million profitable small businesses across Africa and close the $331B small-business credit gap has been selected to the 2025 Norrsken Impact 100, the annual list of the world’s most promising impact startups. Oze is one of just 11 African startups on this year’s list and the only Ghanaian company recognized.
Compiled by the Norrsken Foundation with nominations from 50 leading investors and partners, the Impact/100 spotlights venture-scale companies tackling the world’s toughest challenges.
“This recognition affirms both the scale of the problem we’re solving and the impact we’re making,” said Meghan McCormick, Oze’s Co-founder and CEO. “By helping lenders use AI-powered credit scoring and process automation to lend profitably to MSMEs, we’re unlocking the capital that will power the next generation of African businesses.”
To celebrate the announcement, Oze’s logo was featured on the Nasdaq Tower in New York’s Times Square. As part of the Impact/100 program, Oze also receives one year of complimentary access to Norrsken Houses in Stockholm, Kigali, Barcelona, and Brussels, along with free postings on Norrsken’s global job board to accelerate hiring.
How Oze Drives Impact at Scale
Oze has taken a systems approach to SME growth, building software for both small businesses and the institutions that finance them and now for any company seeking to unlock capital for its SME customers via embedded lending through the Oze Business App, Oze Originate & Oze Embed.
The Oze Business App is a leading provider of mobile-first recordkeeping, invoicing, and e-commerce tools tailored to Africa’s MSMEs. Through Oze Originate, Oze provides an AI-powered credit scoring engine that automates origination and underwriting for banks, MFIs, telcos, and corporates seeking to expand access to affordable, no-collateral capital. Oze Embed, on the other hand, also offers PSPs, B2B Marketplaces and e-Commerce sites an embedded lending solution that lets non-lenders boost loyalty and GMV by offering working capital to their SME users.
Recently, Bridgespan and AfricInvest estimated Oze’s impact under the Multiple of Impact (MOI) framework — the result was a 36x social and economic value for every dollar invested—evidence that impact and returns reinforce each other. On the ground, Oze has disbursed and facilitated nearly $2M in loans, helping MSMEs shift from rates as high as 21% per month to as low as 3%. The gains are especially significant for women entrepreneurs, who have avoided over $7.5M in losses through better management and unlocked ~$23.2M in new opportunities via improved access to finance, showing how inclusive product design compounds community-level outcomes.
About Oze
Oze is on a mission to build 100 million profitable small businesses across Africa and to close the $331 billion small-business credit gap. We’ve built software tools for SMEs, lenders, and platforms to unlock capital safely and at scale: the Oze Business app for MSMEs; Oze Originate for automated, AI-driven lending; and Oze Embed for embedded working-capital experiences. Oze products are modular, white-label ready, and support multiple hosting and deployment models. Oze is currently operational in 11 countries across Africa: Ghana, Nigeria, Guinea, Benin, Rwanda, Lesotho, Madagascar, Senegal, Togo & Cote d’Ivoire, with plans to expand further across the continent.
Learn more: www.getoze.com
Download the app: https://oze.app.link/dlozeapp
About the Norrsken Foundation
Norrsken is a non-profit foundation that supports entrepreneurs solving the world’s greatest challenges. Its Impact/100 list recognizes the most promising impact startups globally each year, based on nominations from leading investors and ecosystem partners.