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Capiter, according to its website, offers on-demand cash flow solutions to small businesses and vendors, paying vendors immediately for the goods they sell to small business buyers and then collecting payments from the buyers using flexible payment plans. There are not a lot of details on the website but it would be safe to assume that Capiter makes money by charging a fee, interest, or a combination of both from the small businesses using its solutions.

“Capiter’s unique technologies and sophisticated ML models empower businesses to increase their sales, grow their customer base and improve their cash flow,” the startup notes on its LinkedIn page.

It is estimated that the Agricultural sector in Africa contributes over 40 percent of GDP but receives less than 4 percent bank lending because of inadequate personal assets. The dynamic duo through FarmDrive have thus built a platform for smallholder farmers who didn’t have financial identities before to enable them access loans easily.

Capiter reads like a tech-enabled provider of factoring services, writing that the company “pays suppliers immediately” when they sell to a client and then “collects the payments from [the clients] on flexible payment plans.” Capiter is currently in conversation with different investors in the region, Menabytes claims, to raise money to support its growth.

First announced last year in December, EasyEquities crowdfunding campaign entailed an indirect investment into a Mauritian entity which would then subsequently invest in the 10 startups from Startupbootcamp Cape Town‘s first cohort. The investment round was initially slated for launch on 15 January, however this was postponed earlier this month to 1 February so that the platform could update the shareholder prospectus — which lays out the terms of the investment.

Zineb Drissi-Kaitouni, CEO and Co-Founder of DabaDoc said, “We are at the inception of a disruption in the way healthcare is delivered. Having AXA as a shareholder adds an important dimension to our mission of democratizing access to healthcare. We are excited about further growth prospects with this partnership and the expertise provided by AXA in our current and future markets."Philippe Rocard, CEO of AXA Insurance Morocco said, "In the midst of a digital revolution in Morocco, customer expectations are rapidly evolving. AXA is therefore committed to transforming its role of indemnity payer into a partner facilitating the lives of its customers thanks to its services. As such, we are happy to contribute to the growth of DabaDoc, an amazing Moroccan startup. DabaDoc offers innovative services in the healthcare space, especially by facilitating patient journeys.”

• Agreement signed on 12 September 2018 introducing Axa as DabaDoc’s first institutional shareholder

• The capital raise will help enhance the company’s footprint in its existing geographies and further develop its offering

Kenya BismartEfficiency & Fraud Management

Devant l’incapacité des institutions financières à répondre à ses besoins, Ahmed Wadi, diplômé en informatique et start-uppeur en herbe, a tout simplement décidé de créer le service qui lui manquait lui-même. Inspiré des modèles traditionnels de micro-crédits, les Gemeyas, il a réinventé le principe grâce au digital, étendant ainsi leurs nombreux avantages à qui que ce soit, et de manière sécurisée.

According to Oviosu, Visa and Paga’s engineering teams have already started working together and Paga expects to roll-out these new options in Nigeria sometime in second-quarter 2020.

“Based on the partnership, we’re going to launch QR codes and NFC [payments] into the market in Nigeria — alternative ways of receiving payments than bringing out a physical card,” said Oviosu.

Cependant, l’application, qui se rapproche de ce que fait Lydia en Europe, n’est pas limitée au marché nigérian. En effet, la société cherche à étendre ses activités en Afrique de l’Ouest et au-delà. En janvier, Paga a ainsi mis la main sur la société éthiopienne Apposit pour se développer dans ce pays d’Afrique de l’Est. L’Éthiopie est le deuxième pays le plus peuplé d’Afrique avec 109 millions d’habitants, derrière le Nigeria et ses 200 millions d’habitants. Paga a également ouvert un bureau au Mexique pour déployer son service de paiement mobile cette année. Une expansion à l’international qui traduit les ambitions de la start-up de devenir une plateforme FinTech de référence dans les pays émergents.

JUMO advances financial inclusion solutions in seven countries. Karri Payments offers mobile payment collection for schools and community organisations.

The book begins with an overview of Cape Town facts such as culture (melting pot of local and international cultures), spoken languages (English, Afrikaans, Xhosa), travel destination (one of the top in the world), cuisine (exquisite), bars and cafes (excellent), customs (braai barbecue), nature and sports (fantastic), wildlife (diverse), locals (chatty, friendly), and transportation (great but fragmented),

Applications were submitted by companies across the region. The 10 finalists include: Artis Technologies, LLC – modern financing made simple through an embedded financial services platform for digital lending and real-time payments EnrichHER – offers funders the best selection of vetted investment opportunities in companies that have women in leadership roles, while cultivating a thriving ecosystem of New Majority businesses Ethiopay – safe and convenient way to pay loved ones’ bills from anywhere in the world Finosec – IT and cybersecurity management platform for the banking industry Griffin Technologies – customer intelligence platform that provides banks modern day context on new and existing customers Immediate – helps businesses recruit, engage, and retain employees by providing a financial wellness solution that delivers on-demand access to earned pay InvestGuard – technology-enabled exchange for independent PE sponsors Lendsmart AI – AI-enabled technology platform transforming the homebuying process Ryze – Bitcoin-first financial institution, starting with the most powerful way to save and accumulate Bitcoin VIVA Finance – improving employees’ financial well-being through an affordable lending program and financial education

At the conclusion of the program, the startups will present to a panel of investors during Fintech South’s Investor Preview event on Monday, Oct. 5. The top three companies will hit the virtual conference’s main stage for a chance to win $25,000.

“We are excited to partner with Visa, a leader in payments globally, as they are constantly building world-class solutions for consumers and businesses. Our goals are well-aligned. As we scale our wallet across emerging markets such as Nigeria, Mexico and Ethiopia, partnering with Visa to give both consumers and businesses, who have been underserved, access to Visa’s global network made sense to us,” the company said in a press release.

“The demand for agricultural raw materials from offtakers in the brewery, manufacturing and consumer sector is increasing exponentially because of the easing of the COVID-19 restrictions that were put in place by the government of Ghana, hence this capital injection will help to secure purchases at fair and transparent prices from smallholders — a much needed lifeline for many who are at the proverbial bottom of the pyramid.”

This is a significant milestone for AgroCenta, having the support of leading institutions, particularly with the COVID-19 backdrop, underlining the strength of AgroCenta and the importance of its mission,” they said. 

The most obvious benefit of crowdfunding for entrepreneurs is the funding. With so many startups on the market, it is hard to gather the money needed to bring ideas to life. Through crowdfunding, ventures that do not have a company builder like FinLeap behind them, can gain support at the very beginning. Crowdfunding provides a way for innovate ideas to be presented attractively, so it can be launched. Moreover, a crowdfunding platform can help successful entrepreneurs to validate their product which can then help with gathering the Series A funding. It makes validation faster and more scalable. Additionally, a crowdfunding platform allows entrepreneurs to get insights from their future customers and experts in the startup field while building awareness for the idea. [3]

The investment will allow FarmDrive to scale to US$13 million of loan originations in 2019 with minimal losses and exceptional returns using RiPe, a customisable lending engine that will allow lenders to plug in and access low-cost loan origination channels such as USSD, credit scoring, identity verification, and a portfolio management suite that includes recovery and collections, payments, customer support, and advanced real-time data analytics.

Forging another link between Africa and China’s digital economies, the African-focused money transfer startup SimbaPay and Kenya’s Family Bank have launched an instant payment service from East Africa to China.

Moving forward, banks are now able to partner with fintech startups with ease. Most noteworthy, startups are developing as cloud-native from the very start. The global fintech market size expects to grow to $124.3 billion USD by the end of 2025 at a Compound Annual Growth Rate of 23.84%

As an increasing number of businesses make the move to adopt a digital payment system, the demand for fintech solutions is only expected to grow and drive market growth.

Egypt-based financial technology (fintech) company Fawry has played a pivotal role in providing digital payment capabilities to businesses and consumers alike in the country. Last year, the company went public on the Egyptian Exchange, a feat realised by few startups in the Middle East. Now, Fawry’s co-founder Mohamed Okasha has stepped down as the company’s managing director to launch his own fintech fund, Disruptech, with a target size of $25 million.  We spoke with Okasha about the fund and why he decided to launch it.