7 African fintech startups to follow
The fintech ecosystem is growing in Africa. Almost one third of funding raised by African startups in 2017 was in that specific sector (where just 17% of the population have banking accounts). Last year venture funding for African startups increased by 51% reaching $195 million, according to a report from Disrupt Africa. I have compiled a list of seven promising African startups offering cash management, lending, credit assessment, conversational agent, savings and payment services.
For the sake of simplicity, I have excluded companies with African representation that are not headquartered on the continent.
Byte Money (South Africa)
Byte Money is a cash receipting and allocation platform servicing Sub Saharan Africa (where liquid money is still king so to speak). It ensures that collection transactions are captured and reported on in real time, without human interference. Byte Money integrates with legacy admin system, aiming to reduce risk and increase profitability.
CinetPay (Ivory Coast)
CinetPay is an Abidjan-based mobile money payment solution allowing e-commerce sites and e-services to receive secure payments. The company is a 2016 Founder Institute Graduate.
Click2Sure (South Africa)
Click2Sure is an insurtech platform which enables retailers, service providers, distributors and brokers to bolt on a selection of over 20 custom developed insurance products at the point of sale.
FinChatBot (South Africa)
FinChatBot is a conversational agent framework dedicated to the financial services industry. It can be deployed across multiple channels including web and messaging apps.
Flexpay (Kenya)
Flexpay aims to offer a secure, reliable financing management platform with flexible, installment payment options that make it easier for one’s customers to pay for products and services. Customers reserve or book products or services in advance and pay for them in flexible payments in a stipulated period of time through existing mobile money and bank transfer channels.
Numida (Uganda)
Numida is a digital financial services firm based in Kampala, Uganda. The company helps small businesses digitize their financial records helping them to make sound business decisions. The firm’s proprietary algorithm uses cash flow and financial management behavioral data gathered through the Numida app to determine an entrepreneurs credit-worthiness and issue unsecured loans.
Piggybank.ng (Nigeria)
Piggybank.ng is a Lagos-based online savings platform. Users can choose to save small amounts periodically (daily, weekly or monthly) and restrict withdrawals until a set date or via piggybank’s quarterly withdrawal dates.
I expect the funding momentum to continue both in larger economies (South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya) as well as in smaller nations on the continent where the “unbanked” and “underbanked” could translate into significant opportunities.
