Kenyan startups Duqha, Power and Workpay were among 23 startups who got a chance to pitch their innovations to key ecosystem players, funding partners, angel investors, and venture capitalists. The startups are part of Cohort One of the Visa Accelerator Program.
Other startups in cohort one include Anchor, Dojah, Moni, okHi, orda.africa and traction from Nigeria, Affinity, Agrocenta, Blu Penguin and Oze from Ghana, Floatpays, Franc, Onlife from South Africa, Chari, PayTic and Weego from Morocco, Sympl (Egypt), Konnect (Tunisia), Eversend (Uganda) and Premier Credit (Zambia).
The startups in the program were selected from more than 1,000 applicants across diverse subsectors including merchant payment solutions, lending infrastructure, Banking-as-a-Service, and B2B marketplaces.
The accelerator program which was launched in June last year, is in line with Visa’s pledge to invest $1 billion in Africa by 2027. It aims to strengthen Africa’s payment ecosystem through innovations and technologies, focusing on digitizing economies, upskilling talent, and building capacity.
Plug and play, a world leading innovation platform, served as a program partner during the program. Throughout the 12-week program, they delivered valuable content, facilitated access to mentors, arranged one-on-one coaching sessions, and connected startups with a global and regional network of investors.
Startups in the program benefitted from.
Funding
During the Demo Day which was held yesterday, the startups were considered for an investment opportunity by Visa, Plug and Play, as well as Venture Capital firms.
Knowledge and Expertise
They gained a competitive edge with a tailored program covering product design, marketing, finance, sales among others. They also received expert guidance and strategic insights to accelerate their startup’s growth while unlocking their full potential.
Mentorship
The startups benefitted from access to one on one mentoring from experts and founders in the ecosystem from Africa and beyond. They were able to learn from the experience of others to solve their challenges.
Visa Training
They were able to benefit from exclusive Fintech and payment training modules designed by Visa. This enhanced their understanding of the fintech landscape, payment ecosystem, and industry best practices. They also got a chance to access Visa’s developer portal and experiment with Visa products and services.
Partnership Opportunities
During the program, the participants managed to forge powerful partnerships that can drive their startup forward. The program enabled them to open doors to valuable collaboration opportunities with industry leaders, innovative companies, and strategic partners.
Product Perks
Courtesy of taking part in the program, the startups were able to gain access to a wide selection of product perks and discounts from over 100 vendors. These had a combined offer value of over $200,000 such as AWS with product credits, mentorship and fintech-specific training modules.
Visa also announced that the program is now accepting applications for its second cohort. Seed to Series A startups operating in Africa can apply here with applications open until February 29.