Disrupt Africa, a startup-focused news and analysis network, has announced that the third edition of its deep-dive into the continent’s fintech space, Finnovating for Africa 2021, will be free to all as part of an open-sourcing project with partners such as payments company Flutterwave and venture capital firm GreenHouse Capital.
Since June 2017, Disrupt Africa has published the Finnovating for Africa publication, which documents the rapid growth of the African fintech ecosystem.
It includes discussion of the regional spread and growth of fintech ventures, data on fintech startup launches by year, tracking of funding and acquisitions in the fintech space, and details of fintech accelerator programs open to African applicants and financial institutions with initiatives aimed at African fintech startup.
Leading tech companies from Africa and the rest of the world, Big Four consulting firms, banking and fintech executives, venture capital firms, supranational investors, and foreign trade bodies have all purchased the report, which was previously available for sale.
However, in June 2021, Disrupt Africa will make the next edition of Finnovating for Africa open source .
Flutterwave, an African fintech company that recently achieved “unicorn” status, and GreenHouse Capital, a Lagos-based fintech investment firm that invests capital and technical expertise in companies that will power Africa’s economic future, are key partners in this initiative.
Flutterwave, an African fintech company that recently achieved “unicorn” status, and GreenHouse Capital, a Lagos-based fintech investment firm are key partners.
MFS Africa, a leading pan-African fintech company that operates the continent’s largest digital payments center, and truID, South Africa’s largest Open Finance network, are currently confirmed section sponsors.
“The success of our flagship funding report’s open-sourcing in January, both in terms of the quality of partners obtained and the number of downloads, motivated us to make our vertical publications, beginning with Finnovating for Africa 2021, free to all.
We’re thrilled to have such a strong group of supporters on board, and we can’t wait to get as many entrepreneurs a copy of the study as possible,” said Tom Jackson, co-founder of Disrupt Africa.
“Over the last few years, more and more data sources on the African tech startup ecosystem have appeared, but the cost of this data also prevents early-stage startups from accessing it,” said Gabriella Mulligan, co-founder of Disrupt Africa.
“We are excited to make useful data and analysis available for free to those who need it most, and we hope that it will inspire more success stories across Africa.”
Disrupt Africa’s partners shared their delight at being a part of such an important open-source project.
“We’re excited to collaborate with Disrupt Africa to provide free access to vital fintech data and insight to African entrepreneurs.
We have always believed in the limitless potential of Africa’s youth, who need assistance in realizing their ambitions.
This is our way of providing much-needed assistance to Africa’s burgeoning technology ecosystem.
We believe that if African entrepreneurs succeed, we will all benefit. Fintech has grown rapidly in Africa, and in order to maintain this momentum, we must be data-driven in our processes and strategies.
We are pleased to be a part of this initiative to increase data access for African entrepreneurs.” Flutterwave’s CEO and founder, Olugbenga ‘GB’ Agboola, said.
“We are ecstatic to be a big contributor to this initiative. Such data and analysis are important for better understanding and appreciating the fintech sector’s development in Africa. GreenHouse Capital partner Bunmi Akinyemiju said, “We are proud of our contribution to its development.”
Disrupt Africa is also looking for partners to help it expand its open-source project.
For more information on partnering or the annual funding report,
Contact Gabriella at gabriella@disrupt-africa.com or Tom at tom@disrupt-africa.com
Read More on Tech Gist Africa:
Record Breaking: Funding for African tech start-ups exceeds $700 million in 2020
Flutterwave raises $170 Million in a series C round of funding
