African FinTech Startups win big in Visa Everywhere Initiative

Visa Africa announced Kenyan E-commerce Startup, Mookh and two Nigerian FinTech startups, CredPal and Zowasel as winners of the Visa Everywhere Initiative at the finals held in South Africa yesterday. The startups took home about $25,000 in funding from the Sub-Saharan edition of the Visa Initiative.

12 Startups were chosen from the 238 total entries to compete against innovators from across Sub Saharan Africa for a chance to secure funding of up to US$50,000 to develop their ideas and expand their reach. These startups were VoguePay, CredPal, Loystar, and Growsel (Zowasel) from Nigeria; M-Changa, Mookh, WayaWaya , and LipaPlus from Kenya; Swipe2Pay from Uganda; Brig Africa from Zambia; and Howler and FinChatBot from South Africa.

Financial Tech Startups in Africa are making incredible strides; not only to bring more convenience to consumers but also to enable connection for people who would not otherwise have access to financial services or even a way to connect to the formal banking system. According to reports, Venture funding for African startups jumped by 51% to $195 million in 2017 and Fintech in Africa is expected to grow exponentially in the next few years as it continues to disrupt the traditional financial sector.

With this clear goal of reducing reliance on cash, building digital payment-based economies and increasing financial inclusion, Visa said it is committed to fostering an entrepreneurial spirit and driving innovation in the payment ecosystem.

The Sub Saharan Africa edition of the Visa’s Everywhere Initiative set out to challenge the African Fintech startup to deliver solutions based on three real-life business challenges viz;

1. How startups can leverage Visa Developer APIs to either:  Enable smaller merchants to accept payments in-store digitally OR Provide a safe and secure solution for online merchants to drive eCommerce and reduce cash on delivery.
2. How startups can use Visa’s APIs to leverage the mass reach and social media partner platforms like Facebook to help businesses operating in fast-paced consumer-centric environments improve cash flow and receive payments.
3. How startups can leverage technology to provide services that are functional for illiterate customers to provide them with secure transaction experiences that build and enhance their confidence in the banking system.

One winner was selected per brief with each receiving funding of US$25,000. Nigeria’s instant credit startup, CredPal won brief 1, which was to find a solution helping people “move away from cash on delivery (COD) culture for eCommerce in Africa.” Kenya’s eCommerce platform, Mookh won brief 2, while Nigeria’s marketplace for agricultural resources, Zowasel emerged winner of brief 3 which was focused on “Driving Financial Inclusion.”

Each of the startups went home with $25,000 for winning their respective briefs., while Kenya’s Mookh emerged overall winner which saw it take home an additional $25,000. Beyond fundings, the startups also won for themselves investment and support from Visa and its partners.

Visa’s Everywhere Initiative is a global innovation program that tasks start-ups to solve e-commerce and payment challenges of tomorrow.