12 African fintech startups selected for Village Capital investment-readiness programme

U.S-based venture capital fund Village Capital has announced the full cohort of fintech startups from Africa that will take part in their venture development program, in collaboration with PayPal.

The Village Capital Fintech Africa 2018 program will see the 12 early-stage African fintech startups, which are focused on improving financial health, work through a specific curriculum over a three-month period, according to a Village Capital press release.

The startups, which have been chosen from Kenya, Uganda, and Nigeria, according to AFKInsider, will have the opportunity to engage with potential customers, strategic partners, mentors, investors, sector experts, and PayPal employees.

The top two entrepreneurs in the program, as selected by their peers, will receive an investment of $50,000 each from Village Capital.

Applications for this year’s program opened in October last year, with Village Capital searching for early-stage startups in Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa, Tanzania, and Uganda that apply fintech to sectors of interest such as agriculture, energy, education, and health.

The fintech sector in Africa is expected to grow by $3 billion over the next two years, according to research by independent pan-African banking group Ecobank.

The program targets firms that address challenges within insurtech, pensions and savings, cooperative finance, and financial literacy; as well as leveraging data for credit scoring and consumer insights.

With the 12 startups now selected, they will go through a readiness program from March to May, participating in three four-day workshops before their chance to boost investment in their ideas.

The chosen startups include Youverify, Social Lender, Finance Life Technologies Limited and CredPal from Nigeria, Annona, FPESA, GrassRoots Bima, and Tulaa from Kenya, as well as Ensibuuko, Mazima Retirement Plan, Numida Technologies and Patasente Inc from Uganda.