- May 27, 2022
- Tech
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- Luxembourg
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- Digital
CATAPULT: LHoFT announces the 14 startups selected
Building on the success of the 2018 and 2020 editions of CATAPULT: Inclusion Africa, the LHoFT Foundation is opening on Wednesday 19th of May, the third edition of this unique program of Fintech startup development. The program will close on the 27th of May with a final digital pitching event, opened to the public in front of a top-notch jury, investors and audience members. A very special guest, Mr. Kosta Peric, Deputy Director for the Financial Services for the Poor initiative at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, will provide an opening talk.
Developed by the LHoFT Foundation, the
program targets companies focused on financial inclusion in Africa, aiming to
build bridges between Africa and Europe, highlighting their initiatives and
very much aligned with the sustainability goals of Luxembourg’s finance centre.
In keeping with the times, and with public health guidelines, this edition will
be entirely digital.
CATAPULT: Inclusion Africa is sponsored by the Ministry of Foreign & European Affairs –
Directorate for Development and Humanitarian Affairs, and supported
by the Alliance for Financial Inclusion as
well as key strategic partners such as ADA, InFine, University of Luxembourg,
LuxFlag, Innpact, LuxAfrica, ACRC, MicroInsurance Network, KAP Innovation in
Frontier Markets, LMDF, SPTF, UABA, UN University Center for Policy Research,
the European Investment Bank and Compellio.
Focusing this year on investment readiness, the 14
ventures will be supported by investors operating in Africa such as Bamboo
Partners, TLG Capital, ZedCrest Capital, Rising Tide Africa, Outlierz, Angaza
Capital, Anza Capital, Baobab Group, Beyond Capital, Advans, CRE VC, DRK
Foundation, AfricInvest, Triodos Capital, Sherpa Africa Partners, and others.
CATAPULT: Inclusion Africa will once again leverage Luxembourg’s Inclusive Finance and
Fintech ecosystems, as well as LHoFT partners, to support the selected firms in
developing their businesses and achieving their inclusion goals, creating
synergies between them, partners, sponsors, investors, Microfinance
institutions (MFI) and Public Financial Institutions (PFIs).
CATAPULT: Inclusion Africa will provide a tailor-made program with intensive mentoring,
coaching, peer to peer learning and dedicated workshops for the selected
Fintech startups. The program will include sessions on business model mapping,
investment readiness, funding and capital raising, social impact, scaling
strategy, building teams, operational management, and pitch
development. The 2018 and 2020 Catapult Alumni will join the new cohort,
delivering sessions and providing mentorship - leveraging their own experience
from the ground.
Franz Fayot, Minister of the Economy and Minister for
Development Cooperation and Humanitarian Affairs, stated: “Innovative Fintech solutions have the potential
to lead to an improved accessibility of inclusive financial services,
especially in isolated areas, and to reduce costs for clients of financial
service providers. Digitalisation can at the same time simplify the access to
knowledge, education, and the labour market, as well as improve communication.
The Luxembourgish civil society and private sectors have developed a wide array
of expertise in microfinance and in Fintech, which can, through Catapult, be
put at the benefit of young fintech entrepreneurs in Africa.”
Nasir Zubairi, CEO of the LHoFT added: “It is very exciting to see such incredible
firms engaging with the Catapult: Inclusion Africa programme. We are humbled to
have received such strong interest to be part of the bootcamp from firms
tackling the key issue of inclusion, and also to see the enthusiasm from the
domestic and international ecosystem, including alumni of the bootcamp, to be
part of this initiative and make a positive impact."
Join us on the 27th of May for the final digital
pitching event, opened to the public in front of a top-notch jury, investors
and audience members. Hear from Mr. Kosta Peric, Deputy Director for the
Financial Services for the Poor initiative at the Bill & Melinda Gates
Foundation, about why this topic is so important.
You can register to the event HERE
The 14 Selected Fintech Startups:
• Emata (Kampala,
Uganda - https://www.emata.ug):
Emata is disrupting the $65bn agricultural financing
opportunity in Africa. The company digitizes farmers’ cooperatives and gives
farmers access to digital and affordable financial products.
• Moja Bank (Abidjan, Ivory Coast - https://mojawallet.com): We provide a digital payment App and a contactless
card which is used by consumers to facilitate everyday payment in emerging
markets. Consumers in the US use the App to manage their finances, and send
money to their families back home.
• AWABAH (Lagos, Nigeria - https://www.awabahng.com):
We provide access to retirement savings for Africa's
unbanked and underbanked population. We are improving the customer experience
when interacting with pensions by merging financial literacy with easy to use
technology.
• Mosabi (Freetown, Sierra Leone - https://mosabi.co):
Mosabi links fintech and edtech with embedded,
gamified upskilling for Africa's financial products and platforms. This helps
underserved citizens improve decisions and behaviours on their businesses and
money. We harness data insights from user profiles and journeys, to match them
to best fits across a marketplace of digital financial services.
• Mipango (Dar es Salaam,
Tanzania - https://mipangoapp.com): Mipango is a personal finance mobile application that
enables users to manage their income, expenses, savings, financial targets,
help and offerings. Mipango app uses artificial intelligence to guide users to
better financial management and financial deals towards attaining financial
freedom.
• Igugu Global (Lagos, Nigeria - https://igugu.global): Igugu Global is accelerating the flow of capital to
Africa’s US$1.5 trillion sustainable infrastructure gap. We are solving the
problem of fragmentation in financial markets by providing ESG mapping,
structuring and due diligence for green building, transport and energy
portfolios.
• Chromepay (Tel Aviv, Israel - https://www.chromepay.io):
Chromepay provides merchants and vendors with an
affordable way to run all financial aspects of their business without using a
bank or POS system. Our platform allows each merchant to manage products and
generate invoices embedded in a unique QR code that can be scanned by customers
to instantly pay for goods and services.
• Nokwary Technologies (Accra, Ghana - https://nokwary.com):
We are excited about the potential of AI in the
financial space, and its capacity to promote financial inclusion. Voice User
Interface systems, for instance, enable people who cannot see, as well as
people who cannot read and write, to interact with banking apps and systems
through spoken commands.
• Kotani Pay (Nairobi, Kenya - https://kotanipay.com):
Kotani Pay is a technology stack that enables
Blockchain protocols, dApps, and Blockchain FinTech companies to integrate
seamlessly into local payment channels providing them with a reliable on-ramp
and off-ramp service to reach a wider customer base in Africa.
• Juakali (Paris, France - https://www.juakali.io): At Juakali, we simplify financial institutions’ lives
by eliminating paperwork & automating valueless tasks, so that employees can
make the most of their time at work and companies boost their productivity.
• RePay.Africa (Nairobi, Kenya - https://www.repay.africa): RePay Africa's API driven platform serves as an electronic
alternative to cash, cheques & banks for the un-banked Sub-Saharan Africa.
Africa-wide payment & transfer platform that supports online money
transfers and bill payments to merchants.
• Crop2Cash (Ibadan, Nigeria - https://www.crop2cash.com.ng):
Banks and Development Finance Institutions (DFIs) find
agricultural financing risky, which has created a $330 billion funding gap in
agriculture globally. With our tools, they can provide this finance with a high
level of assurance that it would be efficiently used by the farmers.
• Asilimia France (Paris, France - https://asilimia.co.ke/home): Asilimia is an android application that allows
informal traders in Africa to create a formal business account within their
personal mobile money account. With Asilimia, all their future B2B transactions
will be categorized as business transactions even though initiated from their
personal mobile money account, saving 90% of their mobile money transaction
fees.
• Vooli Insurtech (Nairobi,
Kenya - https://vooli.net): Vooli is a client-centric, technology-driven,
disruptive insurtech, that offers on-demand general insurance through its app
and website. Vooli bills users based on the duration they need insurance e.g.
annually or semi-annually, and also seamlessly.
Press
release by LHoFT