When Caine Wanjau and Thuku wa Thuku co-founded DigiTax in 2022, they weren’t just launching another software company, they were responding to a continental shift. Across Africa, governments are tightening tax regulations, and businesses are scrambling to comply with a wave of new e-invoicing mandates.
The Kenyan startup provides e-invoicing software that connects directly to tax authority systems, allowing businesses to issue compliant invoices digitally and in real time. With mandates like Kenya’s electronic Tax Invoice Management System (eTIMS) and similar systems emerging across the continent, companies are under pressure to digitize or risk steep penalties. DigiTax positions itself as the compliance plug-in for this new tax era, serving both large enterprises and growing small businesses.
“We’re not just offering software,” says Thuku. “We’re offering peace of mind for businesses navigating a fast-changing regulatory environment.”
DigiTax’s services are available via Android, a web dashboard, and an API that integrates directly into existing systems, all without hardware installations. From laptops to mobile phones, any internet-enabled device becomes a gateway to compliant invoicing. This accessibility is key, especially for smaller firms with limited tech infrastructure.
The company is currently licensed in Kenya and Zambia, where it works closely with revenue authorities and complies with local regulations. Nigeria is next on its expansion roadmap, with four more African markets in view for 2025.
But for now, Kenya remains its anchor. Roughly 90% of DigiTax’s revenue comes from its home country, where it’s deeply embedded in the KRA’s eTIMS ecosystem. To operate legally in regulated markets, the company has opened regional offices and undergone rigorous technical, legal, and administrative checks.
At the core of its operations is a proprietary technology stack that centralizes user management, security, and encryption, while layering country-specific tax engines on top. This modular approach allows DigiTax to scale efficiently across borders while staying locally compliant.
“Our technology stack gives us the flexibility to be both global and local,” Thuku explains. “We don’t need to reinvent the wheel each time we enter a new market, just adjust the tax engine.”
DigiTax’s main clients are large enterprises, defined in Kenya as companies with annual revenues above $1.2 million. But it also serves micro and small businesses, driven by policy shifts that require all tax-deductible expenses to be tied to compliant, system-generated invoices. That means even the smallest vendors must get onboard with e-invoicing and DigiTax sees this as a key growth area.
Revenue comes through annual subscriptions, integration fees, and a transaction-based pricing model designed to be flexible for different business sizes. Its API hub, which supports integration in over 20 programming languages, is often used by in-house developers or third-party tech partners. For businesses that want more control, DigiTax even white-labels its API services.
While the company keeps its pricing details under wraps, it says flexibility is a core selling point, especially in markets where infrastructure and needs vary widely.
As DigiTax looks beyond Kenya, it follows a cautious expansion playbook. “We ask three big questions,” Thuku says. “Is the country’s e-invoicing environment mature? How large is the taxpayer base? And are existing customers pulling us in, or can we benefit from a ‘last mover’ advantage?”
The startup is backed by angel investors and two institutional funds, Equitable Ventures and Higa VC — who bring not just capital but strategic support in areas like pricing, sales, and market entry.
Inside the company, a 25-person team manages customer support, sales, engineering, tax compliance, and product development. DigiTax’s in-house tax expert keeps clients informed with weekly updates, while the tech team focuses on security, system uptime, and ensuring seamless API performance. Regular engagement with tax authorities is part of the job, helping DigiTax stay ahead of regulatory shifts before they land.
“To integrate with revenue authorities, you often need to be on the ground,” the company notes. “We’ve had to open local offices and meet a wide range of compliance requirements.”
As DigiTax sets its sights on the rest of the continent, it faces no shortage of challenges. Navigating fragmented tax systems, building local trust, and staying ahead of competitors — especially in a space that’s heating up fast will be key. More critically, it must scale without losing the agility that has helped it win in Kenya.
Still, DigiTax is betting that Africa’s e-invoicing wave is just beginning and it wants to be the company that rides it all the way to the top.