KENYA – Safaricom has announced the nine startups selected for its Spark Accelerator Program to grow and scale their businesses.
The program, run in partnership with M-PESA Africa and Sumitomo Corporation, aims to accelerate early-stage startups in fintech and content.
The recipient startups were identified following a call for applications in different categories, including Embedded Finance, Future Fintech, SME Productivity Tools, and Content.
By providing a blend of training, mentorship, and go-to-market support, the Spark Accelerator is taking an ecosystem-based approach to provide startups with access to markets, technology, product development support, and capital.
“Leveraging technology to drive meaningful innovation is a strong premise under which the Spark Accelerator program was founded,” said Peter Ndegwa, CEO of Safaricom.
“We aim to drive significant societal change and economic growth by supporting and investing in these tech-enabled startups. We are excited to work with visionary founders who represent tomorrow’s promise and see the impact they will create in their respective sectors.”
The first cohort of the Spark Accelerator will include two startups under the Embedded Finance category: Chumz, which is leveraging mobile money, gamification, and behavioral psychology to build a community of savers, and Nobuk, which is streamlining payment collection and reconciliation for African groups and collectives, simplifying financial reporting.
Four startups were shortlisted in the SME Productivity Tools category: Chpter, Faidi HR, Churpy, and Twiva.
Chpter empowers businesses to sell more on social platforms like WhatsApp and Instagram by automating conversations, marketing, and payments all in one place through an AI-powered platform.
Faidi HR is a Cloud Payroll and HR Platform for Businesses. Churpy seeks to automate repetitive and manual tasks in the office of the “CFO,” and Twiva is a social commerce platform that helps brands effectively gain access to markets by leveraging social media influencers to market their goods and services.
Under the content category was HealthX Africa, a data-driven, primary health care provider offering hybrid digital and physical touchpoints to provide a doctor for every Kenyan, and BlackRhino VR, which enables creators and brands alike to tell immersive and interactive stories that appeal to contemporary audiences.
VunaPay, a platform for Agricultural Cooperatives that facilitates instant payment to smallholder farmers for produce delivered to the cooperatives, was shortlisted under the Future Fintech category.
“In alignment with our commitment to accelerating innovation for African prosperity, we are excited to welcome these startups into the program,” said Nissi Madu, Managing Partner at iHUB/CcHUB.
“Their unique solutions harness transformative opportunities to leverage technology to improve the quality of lives of millions of Kenyans significantly. We look forward to supporting the startups to optimize their offerings, scale their solutions, and expand their impact.”
In 2023, Safaricom entered into a strategic partnership with M-PESA Africa and Sumitomo Corporation, a leading Fortune 500 global trading and business investment company, to launch the Spark Accelerator following Safaricom board’s approval and shareholders’ approval to restructure the Spark Fund.
The Spark Accelerator will leverage a team of founders and experts to accelerate product innovation across different industry verticals.
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