We’re pleased to announce an initial list of 13 Fintech startups selected to take part in the 2020 edition of CATAPULT: Inclusion Africa.
Building on the success of our 2018 edition, CATAPULT: Inclusion Africa is a unique program of Fintech startup development. Developed by the LHoFT Foundation, the program targets companies focusing 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.
CATAPULT: Inclusion Africa is sponsored by the Ministry of Foreign & European Affairs – Directorate for Development and Humanitarian Affairs, and supported by key strategic partners such as ADA, InFine, University of Luxembourg, LuxFlag, Innpact, MicroInsurance Network, KAP Innovation in Frontier Markets, LMDF, SPTF, UN University Center for Policy Research, the European Investment Bank and Compellio.
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, advisory meetings with investors, and pitch development.
The 13 Selected Fintech Startups:
A-Trader
Tanzania
A-Trader are building a Robo-Advisor to provide automated investment recommendations for Africa’s growing middle class through real-time access to Africa’s Stock Markets, savings/investments options, and easily understandable structured financial instruments.
CinetPay
Côte d’Ivoire
CinetPay is a mobile money, credit card and other wallet payment gateway allowing e-commerce sites, e-service, companies and institutions to accept all means of payment online or offline in 8 countries in Africa.
Dundiza
Tanzania
Dundiza is the first digital wallet platform that enables young people and women living in marginalized communities to securely save and manage their money instantly while being to gain competitive interest and access credit scorings from the savings.
Esusu
Nigeria
Esusu Africa Limited is tackling the problems of informal savings schemes across Africa. We do this through ELECTRONIC ESUSU, a digital platform designed to simplify thrift savings, collections and microcredit towards enhancing delivery of digital financial services to the last mile.
Eversend
France
Eversend is building a neobank for Africans, anywhere in the world A multi-currency e-wallet that allows users to exchange, spend and send money at the best possible rates. Insurance, virtual debit cards, and bill payments, and USSD channels so that anyone with a mobile phone can access financial services.
Exuus
Rwanda
Exuus aims to leverage the power of informal collective saving schemes through a digital and decentralized collective wallet for saving groups. They’ve created SAVE to allow both unbanked and underbanked population to access financial services without necessarily having a bank account.
OZÉ
US & Ghana
OZÉ brings African SMEs into the digital era with an app that makes it easy for businesses to track sales, expenses, and customer information. The data is analyzed to provide tailored recommendations, reports, and business insights. If the entrepreneur needs a little extra support, an OZÉ Coach is just a click away.
PaddyCover
Nigeria
PaddyCover is an insurance service aggregator and technology company, powering affordable pay-as-you-go insurance in Nigeria & Africa, working with established insurers and customer aggregators to offer a multi-channel platform that facilitates flexible and convenient payment.
People’s Pension Trust
Ghana
People’s Pension trust offers pension products to workers in the informal sector (farmers, market woman, self-employed, taxi drivers etc. for which people can save daily, weekly or monthly, with flexible contribution amounts, done by mobile phone or other means.
Pezesha
Kenya
Pezesha is a holistic digital financial marketplace & infrastructure for underserved MSMEs in Africa. Offering lending, financial education, and debt counselling to borrowers, plus a proprietary credit scoring system to vet MSMEs without a credit history, derisking lending to SMEs.
SmartTeller
Nigeria
SmartTeller is a digital banking platform for Financial cooperatives, bringing access to digital financial services to the underbanked by providing cooperatives and microfinance institutions the all-inclusive tool to provide standard financial services.
SympliFi
United Kingdom
SympliFi is a global online marketplace that enables diaspora around the world to easily access impactful financial solutions in their home country for self and family, at the touch of a button, because people want to do more than just send money back home.
uKheshe
South Africa & UK
uKheshe is a unique digital payment acceptance platform that enables informal merchants and traders to accept card payments without the need of a bank account, smartphone or formal business registration. Using payments as the catalyst to access broader financial services such as lending and insurance.
