Ghanaian agritech, Farmerline gets $12.9M funding. Farmerline has stepped in to deliver technologies aimed at improving farmers’ access to high-quality production inputs and education on optimal agricultural methods.
Farmerline has identified key deficiencies in Ghana’s agri-food sector. Its solutions are also intended to help farmers gain faster access to markets, resulting in more profits and less post-harvest loss and waste.
In 2013, Alloysius Attah and Emmanuel Owusu Addai founded Farmerline. It will begin its expansion in Ghana before moving on to the adjacent Ivory Coast, accelerated by a new $12.9 million pre-Series A investment round ($6.4 million equity and $6.5 million debt).
Acumen Resilient Agriculture Fund (ARAF) and FMO, the Dutch entrepreneurial development bank, lead the equity round. Another participant in the round is Greater Impact Foundation. DEG, Rabobank, Ceniarth, Rippleworks, Mulago Foundation, Whole Planet Foundation, the Netri Foundation, and Kiva were among the debt lenders.
The agritech will utilize its first round of equity capital to construct physical infrastructures, such as warehouses and distribution networks.
“We see ourselves as the Amazon of farmers,” Attah explained, “a digital and physical infrastructure powering a marketplace that permits the movement of products and services to and from rural areas.”
“We intend to use the funds to improve our infrastructure, which includes warehouses and distribution networks,” he said.
“It’s critical to have a network of partners who can assist us in quickly getting inputs like fertilizer and seeds to rural areas, as well as farm produce from rural areas. We don’t plan to bring all logistics and storage in-house, but we do want to be more efficient, which involves partnering with the right people,” he added.
Farmerline collaborates with agribusinesses (often small retail stores that offer farm inputs) to guarantee farmers have access to high-quality products.
“We’re tapping into that agriculture network, and in some ways, we’re tapping into a network of trust – the relationship that these shop owners have with farmers to help us expand,” said Attah.
“This investment is a watershed moment for our industry, and it provides an opportunity for us all to transform the way we work together as a community to benefit farmers who currently feed one-third of the world’s population, but will need to increase production by 70% by 2050 to feed nine billion people”, concluded Attah.
Over the last decade, the African Fintech industry has shown to be one of the most promising industries for entrepreneurs to develop.
Finance is the force that drives an economy on both a personal and business level, including bank accounts, mortgages, credit, and payment processing, loans, and point-of-sale systems.
Fintech’s enormous appeal as a category for entrepreneurs has been fueled by the world’s large unbanked populations, the dominance of cash as a means of transacting, and the limited access to financial services that most individuals (even those with bank accounts) have.
The Top 10 Brands Revolutionizing Payments in the African Fintech Industry
This article is a comprehensive run-through of the leading startups in the African Fintech Industry in no particular order. Do ensure you make yourself comfortable as you read this piece because you’re in for an exciting long ride.
OPay, a Nigerian mobile money firm, was seeded and initially sponsored by Opera, a Norwegian internet browser company, making it one of the world’s most unique startup origin tales. Opay was formed in 2018 and has accomplished a remarkable amount in less than three years.
By providing intelligent financial services, OPay empowers users and allows them to do more with their money.
In 2018, Opay launched its mobile money platform in Lagos, Nigeria’s largest city. From there, Opay quickly expanded its services, intending to become Nigeria’s SuperApp, comparable to what Grab, Meituan, and, to a lesser extent, JumiaPay have accomplished.
ORide (a now-inoperative bike-hailing service), OBus (a bus-booking platform), OExpress (a logistics delivery service), OTrade (a B2B e-commerce platform), and OFood (a food delivery service) were all established by OPay.
However, OPay’s mobile money product is the only one that has actually taken off, and the company has shut down several other business lines to focus on it. Opay currently offers three main product lines:
Opay Payments: A mobile application that allows users to conduct peer-to-peer (P2P) transactions and make digital payments for goods and services.
Opay Merchant Tools: A free point-of-sale system and other tools enabling merchants to process and settle transactions as well as sell digital services in real-time (such as mobile data)
Opay Cards: As part of its platform expansion, the business has issued debit cards.
Aside from geographic development, OPay can widen its product offering by incorporating buy-now-pay-later (BNPL) functionality and other consumer credit options. In emerging regions, companies like Klarna, Affirm, and Afterpay in the West and Kredivo (Indonesia) and ZestMoney (India) have all pioneered the BNPL business model.
OPay’s quick rise in payment volume in Nigeria and recent $400 million in funding position the firm well for aggressive growth in the years ahead, both inside Nigeria and in new markets.
As the drumbeat of financial inclusion continues to grow across Africa, mobile money products like OPay are critical for bringing the unbanked into the financial system and introducing them to more complex financial products like credit cards, home loans, and student loans, all of which OPay may eventually offer.
Opportunities: Ability to spot difficulties and work together to fix them so that everyone can benefit from entrepreneurship.
Technology Advancement: We integrate people with technology to create a work environment that prioritizes impact.
About OPay
OPay is a platform created to make monetary services more accessible to everyday customers –– whether it’s for paying bills or transferring and withdrawing funds, OPay is a system that truly serves its customers most conveniently.
OPay provides a robust dashboard that allows you to view your company transactions and better understand your organization.
OPay is changing the way people pay by providing free POS to their merchants. This alleviates the need for their customers to go to the bank to obtain cash. With a gadget that can do anything from making withdrawals to providing all merchant business services, you may become the go-to place in your neighbourhood for quick cash.
Team
OPay is led by a team that challenges the existing quo, with a combined experience of over 4 years. Ebunoluwa Shipe, for example, is one of OPay’s three well-known executive team members (Senior Operations Manager). Other executives include Allen Qu (COO) and Osagie Alonge (Director of Marketing).
Funding Rounds
OPay has received $570M in investment from 21 investors over three rounds ($50M Series A funding on Jul 09, 2019, $120M series B funding on Nov 18, 2019, $400M in Aug 23, 2021). The most recent round of funding for OPay was a Series C financing.
Technology Stack
OPay employs more than ten different web technology tools; Hosting (including dedicated-hosting, shared-hosting, us-hosting, VPS-hosting, and 44 more technologies), NS, MX, analytics, and widgets are just a few of the tools used.
PalmPay is a rewards-based payment app that is simple and secure. PalmPay is helping to shape Africa’s financial future by changing the payments experience for people and businesses on the continent and making financial services more accessible and cheap.
About PalmPay
PalmPay allows users to send money to pals quickly and pay for airtime and utilities. This firm was established in 2019 to become Africa’s largest financial services platform.
PalmPay makes use of technology to help people become more financially included.
They have supplied over 5 million clients with convenient and affordable digital payments since its introduction in Nigeria and Ghana in 2019. For almost 20% of them, the PalmPay app represents their first official bank account.
PalmPay is preparing to reach out to a more significant number of people in a shorter amount of time. Over the next three years, its goal is to expand into new markets and provide relevant, dependable, and inexpensive financial services to over 100 million people and 10 million enterprises.
To do so, it’s developing an online and offline payments ecosystem that brings together the best digital products from around the world and our own unique features. It makes them accessible to anybody with a smartphone.
PalmPay will be integrated into the primary user experience of new smartphone customers thanks to PalmPay’s premium collaboration with TECNO, INFINIX, and ITEL Mobile, three popular mobile phone brands on the continent. As a result, users are empowered right out of the box with a bank in their pocket.
The company’s offerings enable clients to expand their own businesses by leveraging the company’s dependable network and consumer-focused solutions. It provides solutions to assist them in processing payments, managing business procedures, and increasing income and customer base.
Team
PalmPay is driven by a team that challenges the established standard, with over 3 years of experience across the board. PalmPay has at least two well-known executives, namely Greg Reeve (CEO) and Jason Mycroft (Chief Commercial Officer)
Funding Rounds
PalmPay has received over $140M in funding from 9 investors in two rounds (the seed round was $40M on November 13, 2019). PalmPay’s most recent financing round was a Series A round.
Technology Stack
PalmPay’s website employs more than a dozen web technology technologies. Widgets, CMS, javascript, media, and framework are just a few examples.
The most convenient way to take payments from customers all over the world. Flutterwave gives any business limitless options for selling online, processing payments, creating financial products, and using business tools to help them develop.
About Flutterwave
Flutterwave was launched in 2016 in Lagos, Nigeria, and has raised $234.6M to date. Flutterwave runs an API that allows individuals and businesses on the African continent to handle credit cards and other payment types. It focuses on connecting clients to local and international businesses and service providers.
It enables these businesses and service providers to conveniently receive payments from their clients, and it is currently operational in 150 countries. Payments can be made in USD, Naira, Euro, Yuan, and GBP. The company’s headquarters are in San Francisco, California.
Flutterwave launched a new feature in 2020 that lets businesses set up their store directly on the Flutterwave platform, in addition to being a payment gateway. To provide financial services to Africans, the company has worked with well-known companies such as Visa, Alipay, and Worldpay.
Flutterwave’s payment tools are all in one place. Their sophisticated payment ordering mechanism, great speed, and gorgeous simplicity are all highlighted at the checkout. Its goal is to increase merchant income while also giving customers the most outstanding possible payment experience. It is also simple to accept money. Anyone, anywhere in the globe, can effortlessly send money to merchants.
Flutterwave’s APIs and business tools have the most refined approach to collecting money throughout the globe in 30+ currencies. Users can now make single or bulk transfers (payouts) to bank accounts from their Flutterwave dashboard, allowing them to take advantage of a secure payment system that protects their money and data while they grow income.
Flutterwave creates jobs by posting job openings and encouraging visitors to apply for positions they are interested in and capable of. At the time, the jobs of Compliance and Risk, Customer Experience, and Customer success are available. Current openings can be found in various locations throughout the world, including London, Cameroon, Dakar, Abidjan, Rwanda, etc., and even remote jobs.
Team
Flutterwave is led by a team that challenges the status quo, with a combined experience of more than 6 years. Iyinoluwa Aboyeji (co-founder), Bode Abifarina (Chief Operating Officer), and Olugbenga Agboola are among Flutterwave’s executive team members (Founder & CEO)
Funding Rounds
Flutterwave has raised about $234.625M in investment from 40 investors across 11 rounds. The most recent round of Flutterwave was a Series C round.
Technology Stack
On its website, Flutterwave employs around 15 web advanced technologies. They include, among other things, hosting, SSL, javascript, widgets, and payment.
Yoco was founded to make it easy for entrepreneurs to be paid and expand their businesses – and the economy. Yoco is an African point-of-sale payment service for small companies. Yoco enables merchants to obtain cheap financial tools from anywhere, thereby improving their and the economy’s growth and profitability prospects.
Country: South Africa
State: Cape Town
City: NA, Cape Town
Year Founded: 2013
Employee Range: 300 – 500
About Yoco
Yoco’s journey is documented in photos, beginning in October 2014 with the first live Yoco transaction until their current stage. The photographs are so good at telling the story that they say more than words can.
Yoco is a technology startup based in Africa that helps entrepreneurs get paid and grow their businesses. Yoco cuts down barriers and provides access to new companies every day, allowing them to participate in the market and prosper.
Yoco is creating new markets, business tools, and financial services that are beneficial to entrepreneurs. It enables small businesses to accept payments for the first time.
It has also raised over $100 million from some of the world’s most prestigious technology investors, including Nubank, Square, and Stone. They’re now pushing Yoco to get South Africa paid and the entire continent.
Yoco has handled over $2 billion in card payments and is now the preferred digital payment solution for over 200,000 small and micro retailers in South Africa, managing over $1 billion in revenues per year. Yoco Khumo, South Africa’s most economical smart card machine, can process Tap, Chip & Pin, Swipe, and digital mobile payments in under 3 seconds.
Yoco enables merchants to obtain affordable financial instruments from anywhere, thereby improving their and the economy’s growth and profitability prospects. They’ve done this by partnering with over 700 retail locations around the country to provide additional merchants with low-cost, high-performance electronic card machines and financial tools to help them start and run their businesses.
Yoco currently has 23 available positions in data, product, technology, growth marketing, and commercial, with the majority of the jobs being remote. They delve deep into complex issues so that their merchants may concentrate on what they do best: increasing the economy.
Team
Katlego Maphai, Carl Wazen (chief business officer), Bradley Wattrus, and Lungisa Matshoba are four friends who co-founded Yoco.
Funding Rounds
Yoco has raised $106 million in total. The Series C investment in the company is the largest of its kind in South Africa and one of the largest for any African fintech.
Technology Stack
According to G2 Stack, Yoco uses 22 technological products and services, including HTML5, HTML5, and Google Analytics.
According to BuiltWith, Yoco is currently employing 76 technologies on its website. Viewport Meta, IPhone / Mobile Compatible, and SSL by Default are among them.
Yellow Card provides a wide range of cryptocurrency services and goods. Yellow Card Financial is a cash market digital currency exchange.
Headquarter Country: United States
State: Atlanta
City: Atlanta
Year Founded: 2016
Employee Range: 11 – 50
About Yellow Card
Yellow Card is a Pan-African crypto exchange that is now active in 13 countries and is steadily increasing its footprint. Financial inclusion is Yellow Card’s objective, and the company is committed to making crypto and other financial services accessible to Africans. Yellow Card aims to differentiate itself by creating products that don’t need clients to be crypto gurus.
The ‘Financial Inclusion for All’ mission is reflected in the Yellow Card platform. You may safely trade bitcoin on the web or on a mobile device with only a few clicks (or taps).
Their top priority is to keep customers’ money safe. Their distributed system was created from the bottom up, and they use multi-sig wallets to keep your assets secure.
Yellow Card hires qualified people to join their team. Jobs might be on-site or off-site.
Team
Yellow Card is led by a team that challenges the current quo, with over 6 years of experience across the board. At least three of Yellow Card’s executive staff members are well-known, including Jason Marshall, Chief Operating Officer, John Colson, Chief Marketing Officer, and Munachi Ogueke, Chief Business Officer.
Funding Rounds
Yellow Card has received about $16.5M in funding from 15 investors over three rounds. The most recent round of Yellow Card was a Series A round. Yellow Card disclosed a $15M funding round in September 2021, led by Valar Ventures, Third Prime, and Castle Island Ventures.
Technology Stack
On its website, Yellow Card employs around 13 web technology technologies. They contain, for example, javascript, hosting, widgets, NS, and SSL.
Wave Mobile Money is a Senegalese company that offers a mobile-based financial solution for saving, transferring, and borrowing money.
Country: Senegal
State: Dakar
City: Dakar
Year Founded: 2017
Employee Range: 501 – 1000
About Wave
Wave, a mobile money solution for African domestic markets, began development in 2016.
Drew Durbin (CEO) and Lincoln Quirk (Head of Product) met as first-year hallmates. They became friends because they both enjoy creating essential items with a social impact.
First, they developed Sendwave, currently Africa’s most prominent digital remittance provider. Then they moved on to Wave to bring digital finance to everyone in Africa.
The issue: Nearly 60% of persons in Sub-Saharan Africa did not have a bank account in 2017. That’s for a good reason: the fees are prohibitively high, the nearest bank can be miles away, and most establishments only accept cash.
People are obliged to hide their savings under the mattress since they do not have access to financial institutions. Small business entrepreneurs rely on lenders with exorbitant interest rates. Parents stand in line for hours to pay school fees in cash.
Wave’s approach to resolving the issue is as follows:
Creating financial services that work the way they should: no account fees, instant availability, and worldwide acceptance.
Generating financial opportunities in regions where electricity, water, and roads don’t always work.
Wave released a mobile app for cash deposit, withdrawal, peer-to-peer and business payments in Senegal in the fall of 2017 and in Cote d’Ivoire in July of 2019. Our ambition is to make Africa the first continent to be devoid of cash.
Wave allows you to deposit and withdraw money for free, send money to anyone for only 1%, and more. You can pay your bills for free, instantly purchase airtime, and dial their toll-free number for immediate assistance. With their best-in-class security, you can keep your money safe.
Join Waze’s worldwide team and offer modern, affordable banking services to those who need them the most. Waze invites the masses to Build the Future of Money, Africa-first, by joining their global team bringing modern, cheap banking services to people who need them the most.
Working at Waze has several perks, including;
The ability to work on a life-changing purpose from anywhere globally because they’re a totally remote team.
Waze makes offers based on a transparent formula, so your salary is not determined by your ability to negotiate but rather by your expertise and experience.
Every employee receives a free health care plan that covers their entire family.
Waze has an unrestricted vacation and sick leave policy, with a minimum of 20 vacation days.
Team
Wave Mobile Money is driven by a team that challenges the current quo, with over 5 years of experience across the board. Wave Mobile Money features at least two well-known executives, namely Ben Kuhn (CTO), Sid Sridhar (General Manager Waemu), Coura Sene (General Manager Waemu), and Kizito Okute (Head of Agent Operations).
Funding Rounds
Wave Mobile Money has received approximately $200M in funding from 9 investors over two rounds. The most recent round of Wave Mobile Money was a Series A round.
Technology Stack
On its website, Wave Mobile Money employs around 14 web technology tools. They contain widgets, payment, javascript, CMS, and SSL, among other things.
Fawry is Egypt’s premier digital transformation and e-payments platform. Fawry is Egypt’s premier digital transformation and electronic payment platform, providing financial services to consumers and businesses through over 225,000 locations and several channels. In addition, Fawry is a provider of payment gateways and e-commerce solutions in Egypt.
Country: Egypt
State: Al Qahirah
City: Cairo
Year Founded: 2008
Employee Range: 251-500
About Fawry
Over the last decade, Fawry, Egypt’s major digital transformation and e-payments platform, has transformed the concept of Omnichannel payment in Africa and the Middle East.
Fawry is Egypt’s leading digital transformation and e-payments platform, with over 225,000 locations and various channels where individuals and companies may get financial services.
Fawry provides a secure and straightforward way to pay bills and other services in a variety of ways (online, using ATMs, mobile wallets and retail points).
Small grocery stores, pharmacies and stationaries, and post offices are part of Fawry’s network of shops equipped with point-of-sale terminals that accept credit card payments.
Fawry processes over 3.069 million financial transactions every day using its own unique technology, completely compliant with international security standards such as the ISA 27001 and PA DSS certifications.
Collection services, client acquisition, electronic cash, payment facilitation, and business-to-business collection centres are just a few of Fawry’s services.
Team
Fawry is led by a team that challenges the existing quo, with over 14 years of experience across the board. At least four members of Fawry’s executive team are well-known, including Ashraf Sabry (CEO), Mohamed Okasha (Board Member), Abdel Meguid Afifi (CFO), and Amany Fawzy (CTO).
Fawry welcomes people to apply for a job and become a part of their team!
Fawry’s success spirit emanates from its most valuable asset; the Team. If you want to join Fawry’s team of young and inventive experts and are eager and ambitious, please email your CV and a brief description of yourself and your goals.
You can contact them at Jobs@fawry.com
Funding Rounds
Fawry has received about $122M in funding from four investors over three rounds. Fawry’s most recent funding round was from a private equity firm.
Technology Stack
On its website, Fawry employs more than a dozen web technology products. They include, among other things, hosting, javascript, framework, analytics, and MX.
Chipper Cash is Africa’s most popular mobile cross-border money transfer service. Chipper Cash enables you to freely move your funds. You may send and receive money quickly and easily across Africa and benefit from free transfers and the lowest cross-border rates.
Country: Ghana
State: Accra
City: Accra
Year Founded:2017
Employee Range:11-50
About Chipper Cash
Chipper Cash is a venture-backed financial technology firm that develops software enabling free and instant cross-border payments across Africa and Europe and solutions for businesses and merchants to handle online and in-store payments.
Chipper Cash Key Figures; has approximately 4 million total users, 40,000 new users each day, an average transaction time of 0.03 seconds, and 80,000 transactions per day.
Chipper Cash is available in 9 countries now, with many more to come. The 9 countries are Tanzania, Nigeria, United Kingdom, Uganda, USA, Kenya, Ghana, South Africa and Rwanda.
Team
Chipper Cash is driven by a super team with over 5 years of experience across the board. At least four members of Chipper Cash’s administrative staff are well-known, including Alicia Levine (COO), Maijid Moujaled (Co-Founder & President), Patrick Triest (Co-Founder & CTO), Ham Serunjogi (Co-Founder & CEO)
Chipper Cash is becoming increasingly popular as a means of money transfer, and they see no limits to the heights you can achieve with them. Join them in creating the most satisfactory money-transfer experience in Africa and beyond.
Currently, there are career opportunities in roughly 52 departments. Become a Chipper Cash employee and help the world find new ways to transact. Join a squad that has a mission. Chipper’s purpose is to connect Africa and open global prospects one transaction at a time.
Funding Rounds
Chipper Cash has received more than $302.2M in funding from 34 investors throughout eight rounds. Chipper Cash’s most recent funding round was a Series C round (November 2, 2021).
Technology Stack
On its website, Chipper Cash employs around 14 web technology technologies. Frameworks, hosting, MX, CMS, and javascript are among the available technologies.
Tala is a fintech startup on a mission to create a financial system that works for everyone. Tala is a multinational technology business working to make financial services more accessible worldwide.
Country: Kenya
State: Nairobi
City: Nairobi
Year Founded: 2011
Employee Range: 501-1,000
About Tala
Tala’s initial product is a lending software that rapidly assesses and approves individuals with little or no formal credit history.
What They Do: Tala is a digital financial services company that helps those who are traditionally underbanked borrow, save, and invest their money. Our consumer credit app is the most accessible globally, underwriting and disbursing loans to consumers with no formal credit history in seconds. Loans vary from $10 to $500, with interest rates as low as 4%.
How They Do It: Tala created a modern credit system from the ground up, using advanced data science and machine learning. Anyone with an Android smartphone can apply for a loan, receive an immediate decision, and have funds deposited directly into their account. They’re developing new tools to assist people in managing their finances and achieving their goals.
Why They Do It: At Tala, we think that everyone deserves the chance to take control of their finances. With over half of the world’s population unable to access formal financial services, the world is missing out on many new ideas, enterprises, and inventions.
More than 4 million Tala customers in East Africa, the Philippines, Mexico, and India have received over $1 billion in Tala loans to establish and expand small enterprises, pay school fees and utilities, and build more stable financial lives.
RPS Ventures, GGV Capital, IVP, Revolution Growth, Lowercase Capital, Data Collective VC, ThomVest Ventures, and PayPal Ventures are among Tala’s venture and impact investors. Tala has offices in Nairobi, Manila, Mexico City, Bangalore, and its headquarters in Santa Monica.
Team
Tala posts job openings, urging others to join them in their mission. Tala was ranked amongst the top 50 fintech startups in the world by Forbes in 2021. Tala is working to create the world’s most accessible financial services. Check out their open positions to see where you might fit in.
Customer Experience, Data Science, Design, Finance, Global Business, Growth, Legal, Marketing, People, Product, Program Management, and Technology are just a few of the departments where jobs are available. Jobs are also located in various parts of the world.
Tala is led by a team that challenges the established standard, with over 11 years of experience across the board. Tala has excellent and well-known executive team members, such as Shivani Siroya (CEO & Founder), Chief Technology Officer Kelly Uphoff, Chief Product Officer Jori Pearsall, Chief Financial Officer Jen Loo, Chief Risk & Strategy Officer Kunal Kaul, and Jason Raneses (SVP, Engineering).
Funding Rounds
Tala has raised about $349,439,700.00 in investment from 53 investors for ten rounds. Tala’s most recent round was a $145M Series E round on October 14, 2021.
Upstart (Lead), Stellar Enterprise Foundation, Kindred Ventures, J. Safra Group, Institutional Venture Partners, Revolution Growth, Lowercase Capital, PayPal Ventures, and others are among Tala’s investors.
Technology Stack
Tala uses approximately 13 web technology technologies on its website. Framework, analytics, MX, javascript, and CMS are just a few of the tools available.
Paystack is a proudly African brand. The company which began in the entrepreneurial metropolis of Lagos, has grown into an African success story, conceived and produced by a worldwide team of compassionate and clever individuals. 126 Joel Ogunnaike, Ikeja GRA, is the address for the Lagos office.
Paystack enables African businesses to be paid by anyone, anywhere in the world. Paystack’s mission is to allow a new generation of African entrepreneurs.
Paystack is a technological startup that helps ambitious businesses solve their payment challenges. Its purpose is to assist African businesses in becoming lucrative, admired, and loved.
Acquired: Stripe
Country: Nigeria
State: Lagos
City: Ikeja
Year Founded: 2015
Employee Range: 11-50
About Paystack
Paystack is a small but thriving company with offices in Lagos and San Francisco. Paystack allows businesses to take payments via credit card, debit card, money transfer, and mobile money on their websites or mobile apps.
In November 2018, there were more than 25,000 active retailers, with a total of 2.9M received payments, and $27.5M+ were paid out to merchants in October 2018.
In Africa, Paystack is a development engine for modern businesses. They develop technology to aid the growth of Africa’s largest companies, from startups to industry giants introducing innovative business models.
Paystack makes it simple for businesses to take secure payments from a variety of local and worldwide payment channels and solutions to help you keep and recruit new clients.
As manufacturers and company owners, they’re driven by a vision of millions of profitable, envied, and adored firms across the continent.
Paystack believes that African enterprises will consistently compete with the world’s finest corporations and win in our lifetimes. Every day, they have a reason to build that world.
Milestones
Monthly transaction amount of 10 billion Naira in October 2018: Paystack processes over 10 billion Naira ($27.5 million) in a single month for the first time.
Series A Funding (August 2018): Paystack raised $8 million in funding. Stripe led the Series A round, which included Visa and Tencent and follow-on funding from Y Combinator and Tencent.
Paystack Starter Businesses was launched in February 2018: Paystack allows businesses that aren’t yet adequately registered to start accepting online payments for the first time.
In July 2017, the monthly transaction value of 1 billion Naira: Paystack processes over 1 billion Naira ($3 million) in a single month for the first time.
Pay with Bank was launched in July 2017: Paystack now allows clients to pay with just their bank account number.
Seed investment in December 2016: Tencent, Comcast Ventures, and Ventures Platform are among the local and international investors who contributed $1.3 million to Paystack.
Public launch in January 2016: Paystack is no longer in beta!
Y Combinator, November 2015: Paystack is the first Nigerian firm to be admitted into Y Combinator, the Internet startup accelerator that has incubated startups like Dropbox and Airbnb.
Paystack was founded in 2015: Shola Akinlade and Ezra Olubi, both software developers and longtime friends, launched Paystack.
Team
Paystack invites you to join their team and conduct meaningful work with friendly, intelligent coworkers who care about your success.
The Paystack Team is a varied, close-knit group with a mission to build something lasting every day while learning something new.
Paystack is driven by a lovely team that challenges the status quo, with over 7 years of experience across the board. Paystack contains at least two well-known executives, including Shola Akinlade (Co-founder and CEO), Ezra Olubi (Co-Founder & CTO), and many other team members, including Nana Adeku; a Biochemist turned Fintech Engineer.
Funding Rounds
Paystack has received around $11.67M in funding from 22 investors over 5 rounds. The most recent round for Paystack was a $10.2M Series A financing on August 28, 2018.
How Paystack is Revolutionizing Payment?
Paystack takes pride in having the industry’s highest transaction success rates. If a transaction fails on Paystack, there’s a good chance it won’t work elsewhere. They make a strong claim and stand by it. This is how Paystack does it:
Bank Direct Integrations: Paystack is connected directly to some of Nigeria’s top banks, providing near-perfect card transaction success rates.
Intelligent Routing: Paystack dynamically routes transactions through several gateways and processors, assuring the most efficient payment paths and the highest possible success rates.
Intelligent Error Correction: In the unlikely event that a transaction fails, Paystack alerts the consumer and provides alternate payment channels so that they can try a new way of payment. If a customer’s card is declined, the Paystack Checkout Form may advise the customer to try paying through a QR code instead.
Technology Stack
On its website, Paystack employs more than 15 web-based technologies. Frameworks, NS, MX, hosting, and SSL are just a few of the technologies used.
Wrapping Up
Fintech companies are doing a fantastic job of ensuring financial independence and frictionless trade transactions amongst merchants. Their system ensures that even those who do not have access to a bank can benefit from their products and services. They are, in fact, altering the narrative and delivering more financial freedom to the society.
Uber has halted its activities in Tanzania today, claiming a harsh regulatory climate that made it difficult for the ride-hailing business to continue operating in the East African country.
The primary contributor, according to Uber, is the Land Transport Regulatory Authority’s (LATRA) “guide fare.” The regulator determines and authorizes pricing for ride-hailing businesses in the nation, thereby removing the power of companies like Uber and Bolt to set their costs. Due to rising gasoline prices, the authority recently raised the per-kilometre charge for ride-hailing providers.
In response to questions from TechCrunch, Uber, which made its debut in Tanzania in 2016, stated that the government issued an order in March forcing ride-hailing businesses in Tanzania to reduce their service cost from the current 25% commission to 15%. The government denied Uber’s request to have this reviewed.
“We have made the tough choice to stop operating in Tanzania as of Thursday, April 14, 2022.” The Land Transport Regulatory Authority’s (LATRA) recommended fee has made it difficult for systems like Uber to continue to deliver services to our consumers. We are finding it increasingly difficult to continue providing services. In a statement, Uber stated, “We will not be able to provide services until the atmosphere becomes conducive for us to continue delivering services.”
“The judgment comes after the government imposed laws that make it difficult for companies like Uber to operate. We will work closely with the drivers on this transition,” it stated.
Uber’s activities in Tanzania have been halted indefinitely, while the firm has suggested that they may reopen under more lenient conditions.
“We had hoped that this would entail providing an enabling climate for local and international trade to develop in a positive and balanced way,” it stated.
“Although we have suspended UberX, UberXL, and UberX Saver services in Tanzania, we are prepared to work with the appropriate authorities to build legislation that will allow the technology to thrive, allowing us to resume offering our preferred services.”
(Securing Africa’s Emerging Digital Infrastructure)
The COVID-19 epidemic has hastened global digitalization, and cybercriminals are focusing their efforts on African nations, whose digital competence continues to lag behind the rest of the world, resulting in catastrophic repercussions. As a result, the African Union has identified cybersecurity as a top priority in its “Agenda 2063” for transforming Africa, ensuring that Africa is capable of adapting emerging technologies for the benefit of businesses, African individuals, institutions, and nation-states, as well as ensuring data protection and safety online.
The Cyber Security Summit is Africa’s largest cyber security event, providing security professionals with a unique opportunity to network with experts and explore the future of cyber security. Industry leaders will share case studies and best practices at the Cyber Security Summit Africa, with an emphasis on cyber resilience in a post-Covid world. Panel discussions, fireside talks, solution demos, and interactive workshops will also be held to address ways to develop a stronger and more secure Cyberinfrastructure in Africa.
250+ CISOs, CIOs, heads of digital transformation, IT infrastructure, cyber security, information and communication technologies, crisis management, security and risk management, and other subject experts are expected to attend.
Date: 6th October 2022 (Physical Event)
Location: Kenya
Time: 9:30 AM – 6:15PM (SAST)
Why You Should Attend The Cyber Security Summit Africa
Case-Studies And Industry Best Practices
Gain in-depth guidance from expert speakers on fine-tuning your Cybersecurity transformation and the industry best practices.
Access To Recordings
Get access to individual session recordings, post-event reports, and presentations by speakers and solution providers.
Peerless Networking
Cyber Security Summit offers you networking in its truest form.
Showcase Of Cyber Infrastructure Innovation
Gather practical perspectives from many real-world use-cases shared by the market’s top cyber security players, including early adopters and leaders from across the region.
Network With Leading Solution Providers
As a delegate, you will experience cutting-edge technology from cyber security solution providers from around the world that can fulfill your business requirements.
Re-Think, Adopt, Combat
Through high caliber learning experience with real-world lessons and practical takeaways, the platform empowers cyber security leaders to re-think strategy, adopt new technologies, and, combat the inevitable cyber threats.
Who Should Attend?
Chief Information Security Officer
Chief Information Officer
Chief Technology Officer
Head of Cybersecurity
SVPs/VPs – Information Technology
Sr Directors/Directors – IT
GMs IT/ Heads of IT
Head Digital Transformation,
Directors of Information Technology Infrastructure
Industry Focus
Automotive
Government
BFSI & Fintech
Telecommunications
Healthcare
Manufacturing
Logistics & Supply Chain
Pharma & Life Sciences
Ecommerce & Retail
To register for the Cyber Security Summit Africa event, click this link.
The Providing Opportunities for Women’s Economic Rise (POWER) Initiative of the United States Department of State has collaborated with Google’s Women Techmakers to present the Women Tech Founders Program.
This virtual program will deliver start-up training from Google’s tech and start-up professionals to women tech entrepreneurs from the Middle East and North Africa and develop a network of future digital changemakers in the area.
Finalists for the program will be chosen through a competitive application process that will run from April 4 through April 30, 2022, with the first program session taking place on June 7, 2022. The program is aimed at women who have started a tech firm in the previous two years or are starting a new tech business with seed money.
Fifty candidates will get training in both technology and business development ideas and the chance to acquire insights and mentorship from Google’s specialists. Sessions will target participants’ skill sets, allowing them to use technology to grow their enterprises.
Community building activities will be interspersed between technical workshops, allowing attendees to network and cooperate with other top women in tech in the area and the United States and US government authorities. All program sessions will be held virtually and in English.
Application Process
Applicants should apply via the Google Form. Applications will open April 4, 2022 and close April 30, 2022 at 11:59 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. Finalists at the Women Tech Founders Program will be announced in May 2022.
Key Application Criteria
Applicant must be a woman leading a tech startup with:
A technology-based product.
At least acquired seed funding.
Some level of market traction with their product/service.
Legally registered in the Middle East and North Africa region.
Timeline
Selected finalists will be invited to participate in training sessions that will run through the months of June and July. See session dates below:
Huawei has announced the commencement of its LEAP digital skills development program on April 9, 2022, at Huawei’s ICT Competition Awards Ceremony. According to the Chinese tech conglomerate, the LEAP program intends to help enhance the ICT skills of more than 100,000 people across Sub-Saharan Africa in three years.
LEAP (Leadership, Employability, Advancement, and Possibilities) aims to establish strong digital leadership and a professional ICT workforce and build a digital talent pool and promote digital literacy among citizens. It encompasses various activities, from ICT training and certification courses to government digital capacity building and ICT skill competitions.
Huawei Southern Africa President, Leo Chen, launched the LEAP program, emphasizing the importance of ICT skills transfer and talent development and emphasizing Huawei’s consistent emphasis on it.
According to the firm, Huawei has helped more than 80,000 people in Sub-Saharan Africa enhance their ICT abilities over the last two decades. As a result, it claims to have increased youth employability and bridged the gender gap in the ICT industry. Huawei is a preferred employer in the region. In 2021, its subsidiaries in nine Sub-Saharan African nations were awarded the Top Employer seal.
The pandemic, according to Huawei, has accelerated digital adoption across Africa. As a result, there is a greater need for more digital skills and talent. Over 230 million jobs in Sub-Saharan Africa would require digital skills by 2030, according to a World Bank research on Digital Skills in Sub-Saharan Africa.
The 2021-2022 Huawei ICT Competition drew over 15 000 students from over 200 institutions and colleges in Sub-Saharan Africa. Nigerian and Kenyan teams won first place in the regional final out of 48 competing teams. The second place was won by teams from Uganda, Ghana, Nigeria, and Tanzania.
A Top Performance Prize was awarded to the South African team that finished in the top ten of the 2021 Huawei Global Tech4Good Competition for inventing an intrusion detection system that leverages wireless and cloud technologies to combat rhino poaching.
According to Huawei, the Huawei ICT competition has developed into the largest of its type in Africa and around the world. It provides a global platform for students to demonstrate and practice their ICT knowledge and abilities. Over the previous five years, 80,000 African university students have registered for the tournament, and more than 20 teams have advanced to the world finals.
The LEAP initiative will be implemented due to the company’s commitment to the region, with over 1,200 instructors facilitating 3,000 ICT courses.
It will also provide funding for various facilities such as training centres, hardware installation bases, innovation hubs, mirror labs, and ICT academies. Huawei presently operates ICT academies at over 300 universities and colleges.
Leo Chen also urged for strong collaboration between government, industry, and academics at the ceremony to build an ecosystem in which everyone can participate and profit.
Simpu, a Nigerian B2B SaaS platform that helps organizations provide better customer interaction experiences through an omnichannel solution, has raised a pre-seed funding round of $1 million to help it scale.
Simpu is a company that creates communication and engagement software for organizations. It was founded in 2020. Its core product is a lego-flexible omnichannel inbox for teams that combines communication channels such as email, WhatsApp, Twitter direct messages, Facebook Messenger, SMS, and website live chat into a single unforgettable experience.
Businesses can also automate workflows and link a variety of third-party connectors, such as core financial backends, databases, and marketing lists, to combine their siloed data for precision marketing via SMS and email.
“To achieve any sync, the average internet business must combine at least eight apps every day and up to 36 apps.” Simpu’s CEO and co-founder Collins Iheagwara remarked, “Normally, apps don’t talk or sync well with each other.”
Consumers are also using an increasing number of communication apps. Consumers want to be contacted through their chosen methods, which presents a significant challenge for businesses. Collins says that companies have asked them severally how they connect effectively with their customers, clients, and friends across all media and apps. That was the chasm for us.
Simpu has raised pre-seed money from several angel investors and early-stage venture capital firms, with the round completing in January after reaching the $1 million milestones. The startup now has over 90 businesses on its platform and over 300 active users, but it is set to launch fully in May. For the time being, the firm is only active in Nigeria, but it already has a few international customers and aims to grow internationally in the future.
“We make money by selling monthly or yearly subscriptions to each user.” “We have hit over US$80,000 in SaaS revenues since coming out of closed beta in November 2021,” Iheagwara stated.
“We’re doubling down on things that our customers enjoy in the hopes of increasing revenue even more.”
An Egyptian infrastructure management platform for emerging market water and energy utilities, Pylon has received a seed round of $19 million.
Pylon, which has operations in Egypt and the Philippines, will use a portion of the initial investment to grow into additional emerging regions, such as Southeast Asia, Latin America, and Africa. This is the company’s first venture round of investment, as Pylon has been bootstrapped since 2017.
According to the CEO, Pylon solves several problems for water and distribution firms.
For starters, they have a high percentage of unpaid debts and consequently lose out on money.
Second, they pay a lot of money for energy and deal with water theft.
Third, technical failures occur on the grid and network, whether due to a lack of maintenance or law enforcement.
These three challenges combine to cause these businesses to lose 40% of their income and prevent them from upgrading their solution or implementing an intelligent infrastructure due to expensive expenses.
Pylon creates solutions for these water, electricity, and power distribution firms to help them become more efficient and stop the bleeding – the company estimates annual losses in the hundreds of billions of dollars across emerging nations. It’s a huge potential to boost those utilities’ total revenues and top line by 50%.
Pylon’s software collects data from the grids, analyzes it, and pinpoints where supply chain theft and losses occur. It then automates the firms’ invoicing procedures, much like telecom providers in these regions have done in the past.
Pylon claims it can assist utility businesses cut losses by 8% while increasing their bottom line with no upfront expenditure. According to the company, customers are not charged an upfront fee for the gear. Its smart metering-as-a-service (SMaaS) approach, on the other hand, makes it simple for cash-strapped utility firms to install its solution on a large scale.
On Monday, DiDi, a Chinese ride-hailing service, announced that it is ceasing operations in South Africa. The ride-hailing behemoth has been in the country for a year, with its ups and downs.
According to TechCrunch, the corporation has provided no explanation for its abrupt pullout from the South African market. On Friday, April 8, 2022, the company’s operations in South Africa came to an end.
“Our aim has been to ensure a smooth transition for all and would like to take this opportunity to thank our employees, drivers, riders, and partners for the kindness and support shown to DiDi,” a Didi South Africa spokesperson said.
According to reports, the e-hailing service provider stated that it is trying to expand into new markets, such as Egypt, where it would open later in 2021. It will also make its debut in Nigeria soon. It is currently active in 16 countries throughout the world.
“We have re-evaluated where we can make the most positive impact in the short-term and are focusing on developing even deeper capabilities in other existing markets,” the SA spokesperson continued.
According to claims, the ride-hailing behemoth expected to compete on the same level as Uber and Bolt, but things didn’t go as planned. These two ride-hailing services are the most popular e-hailing services in South Africa right now.
DiDi’s abrupt departure comes after South African e-hailing service providers demanded that the government regulate the business and secure their safety. The drivers’ complaints included exorbitantly high gasoline prices, which they blamed on Russia’s and Ukraine’s war.
Another source of disagreement was that ride-hailing companies were purportedly charging exorbitant commissions, resulting in drivers receiving little remuneration for their efforts. They also sought to get rid of ride-hailing businesses’ various applications’ marketing and discounts.
Uber has announced the launch of Uber Black by the Hour and Reserve in South Africa.
These new services, according to the ride-hailing behemoth, would complement on-demand, point-to-point rides by providing greater convenience.
Uber Hourly and Uber Reserve
The Uber Reserve function is divided into two categories: Premium Reserve, which provides access to Uber Black vehicles with a 15-minute arrival time and a 15-minute wait period.
The second category, Economy Reserve, provides access to lower-cost vehicles on Uber Comfort, UberX, and Uber Go, as well as a 5-minute early arrival and 5-minute wait time. Riders also have the option of receiving a trip 30 days ahead of time.
“The opportunities provided by the new Uber Hourly, Black by the Hour; and Reserve products give riders the freedom to use and plan their time as they wish whether they are running multiple errands or attending business meetings, appointments as well as sightseeing and shopping,” explains Kagiso Khaole, Head of Mobility Operations at Uber Sub-Saharan Africa.
These new options, according to Uber SA, will allow drivers earn more money in addition to the trip chances for which they are now qualified. Riders will no longer have to navigate to several locations with multiple ride requests thanks to expert drivers.
In March, e-hailing drivers across South Africa began a series of strikes, claiming that they are struggling to make ends meet as a result of rising gasoline prices, their safety in the business, and increased rivalry. According to reports, the drivers also want to get rid of promotions and discounts on the various applications because it reduces their commissions.
“We will continue to leverage our technology to stay on the cutting edge of innovation to allow us to quickly adapt and meet the changing needs of drivers and riders,” concludes Khaole.
Uber Reserve is available in Johannesburg, Pretoria, Durban, and Cape Town. Uber Hourly, Black by the Hour, is available in Cape Town only.
