Tech

Africa-centric startup M-KOPA celebrates surpassing 5 million customers

Published

2 weeks ago

September 26, 2024

Africa-centric asset financing platform, M-KOPA, has announced surpassing five million customers across Kenya, Uganda, Nigeria, Ghana and South Africa with two million of these customers coming on board in the past 15 months.

M-KOPA co-founder and CEO, Jesse Moore, who made the announcement, said the platform’s model has made affordable smartphones embedded with financial services available to ‘Every Day Earners’, the wide majority of African adults who earn their income daily but struggle to afford smartphones and typically fail to qualify for conventional financial services.

“We are thrilled to welcome our 5 millionth customer to M-KOPA this month. The scale of our operations and our positive impact on customers is what keeps us working hard to go even further. We’re just getting started; the opportunity for much larger impact and scale is right in front of us,” Moore said.

“To date, M-KOPA has supported its customer base with more than US $1.5 billion in financing. Starting with smartphone access, customers gain entry to the digital economy with an affordable daily repayment model, which fits their daily income and cash flow and makes it easier to manage.

“By leveraging rich payments data and proprietary AI-driven analytics, M-KOPA builds a credit record for each customer which forms the foundation for a long-term financial relationship for lower cost digital loans, affordable data subscriptions and medical insurance.”

Also speaking on the milestone,
M-KOPA’s Chief Product Officer Nena Sanderson, said:

“Our product and services build pathways to prosperity for our customers and agents, enabling them to overcome financial setbacks, generate income and progress towards the futures they aspire to.

“Our impact extends beyond our customers, reaching their families and communities, and contributing to building a more sustainable world.”

Tech

Nigeria’s agri-tech startup Winich Farms raises $3m to expand operations

Published

20 hours ago

October 8, 2024

Isaac Dachen

Nigerian agri-tech startup specialized in the supply of farm grain produce to retailers, Winich Farms, has announced raising $3 million in pre-series A funding to expand its operations which include the enhancement of its order fulfillment centers and upgrade of its technology.

The funding round, which was led by Acumen Resilient Agriculture Fund (ARAF), with a contribution of $2.5 million, alongside participation from Climate Resilient Africa Fund, Marula Square, Plug and Play Tech Centre, Acasia Ventures, Tekedia Capital and Additio Sahel Capital which provided $590,000 in debt financing, marks the company’s second funding round in two years.

The startup which was founded by brothers Riches and Winner Attai, along with Chichebem Jibunoh, in 2020, connects rural farmers to off-takers, retailers and informal processors, by operating collection points managed by agents who handle orders from off-takers.

“Our growth has largely been driven by the expansion of agents on our platform,” Riches, the CEO of the company said in a statement.

“In 2022, we had approximately 1,000 agents, but by the beginning of 2024, we had grown to over 4,000 agents, quadrupling our capacity. With more agents, we are able to meet demand more efficiently,” he said.

He however, added that company’s current model faces challenges, as its partner farmers are primarily located in northern Nigeria, leading to slower deliveries to more distant regions such as Lagos. Despite this, the agritech company claims to serve over 150,000 users, including farmers, agents, and truck drivers.

“To speed up deliveries for retailers in Lagos, instead of sourcing produce like rice from farmers in faraway Kebbi or Kaduna, we process orders from closer locations such as Ondo State,” explained Riches.

“For example, when a retailer orders 50 kilograms (kg) of rice via the company’s mobile app, the order is relayed to agents for bidding. These agents then coordinate with local farmers in the area to gather the produce, which is transported to collection points and handed over to truck drivers for delivery within 24 to 72 hours.”

“The solution is to establish fulfillment centers. The debt funding will be used to lease buildings that will serve as regional distribution hubs across Nigeria’s six geo-political zones, reducing delivery times for off-takers,” he added.

Tech

15 startups emerge winners in 4th Egypt Entrepreneur Awards

Published

2 days ago

October 7, 2024

Isaac Dachen

Organizers of Egypt’s Entrepreneur Awards have announced 15 startups as winners of the fourth edition of the annual awards held on Sunday in Cairo.

This year’s edition of the awards which had the theme “Breaking Silos Together: Building Resilience and Embracing Opportunity”, was sponsored by ievents and Tatweer Misr, along with EGBANK, Orange Egypt, PepsiCo and others.

According to the organizers, the Outstanding Youth Entrepreneur Award went to Sight founder Hussein Shahbender, while the Sports and Wellness Award went to SR Padel and the Disruptor of Traditional Industries Award to ILLA Logistics.

2oolameme was named Art to Business Award winner, with the Content Innovation Award going to Peace Cake and the Digital Solutions and Customer Experience Award given to Synapse Analytics.

The Environmental Sustainability Award went to Mozna, the Fashion Vanguard Award to Pepla, and the Fintech Excellence Award to Menthum while the Global Reach Achievement Award went to Technobit, and the Local Hero Award went to Raw African.

The Product Design & Innovation Award was won by SAL, while Willy’s won the Quick Serve Restaurant Champion Award and Reme-D the Rising Star Award, just as Rology and Astrazeneca took home the Disruptive Duo Award, rounding off the winners.