Nigerian Startups, CredPal and Zowasel Emerge Winners at the Visa Everywhere Initiative’s Finals

Two Nigerian FinTech startups, CredPal and Zowasel, have just been announced as winners at the Visa Everywhere Initiative’s finals held in South Africa yesterday. The startups took home about $25,000 in funding from the Sub-Saharan edition of the Visa Initiative.

We are proud to announce that CredPal for brief 1, Mookh for brief 2, and Zowasel for brief 3 have won US$25 000 as our Visa Everywhere Initiative winners. Our overall winner, who gets an additional US$25 000, is Mookh. #EverywhereInitiative #VisaInnovates https://t.co/ZMdrAsqlbJ pic.twitter.com/jTNcjWGSk1

— Visa_SA (@Visa_SA) July 24, 2018

12 African startups made it to the finals of the competition which had 3 briefs – the challenges that were to be resolved by entries leveraging Visa’s network and technologies. The briefs were:

1. How can startups leverage Visa Developer APIs to either:  Enable smaller merchants to accept payments in-store digitally OR Provide a safe and secure solution for online merchants to drive eCommerce and reduce cash on delivery?
2. How can startups use Visa’s APIs to leverage mass reach and social media partner platforms like Facebook to help businesses operating in fast-paced consumer-centric environments improve cash flow and receive payments?
3. How can startups leverage technology to provide services that are functional for illiterate customers to provide them with secure transaction experiences that build and enhance their confidence in the banking system?.

We’re happy to announce CREDPAL is a winner for the VISA everywhere initiative Sub-Saharan Africa pic.twitter.com/TPTiKXtnAQ

— CredPal (@CredPal) July 24, 2018

Nigeria’s instant credit startup, CredPal won brief 1 which was to find a solution helping people “move away from cash on delivery (COD) culture for eCommerce in Africa.” Kenya’s eCommerce platform, Mookh won brief 2, while Nigeria’s marketplace for agricultural resources, Zowasel emerged winner of brief 3 which was focused on “Driving Financial Inclusion.”

Stand up for the champion! Congratulation to @growsel, winners of @Visa's Everywhere Initiative 2018. pic.twitter.com/hIZ5T1AtrH

— Oluyimika Sosanya (@FashTHAfinest) July 24, 2018

Each of the startups went home with $25,000 for winning their respective briefs., while Kenya’s Mookh emerged overall winner which saw it take home an additional $25,000. And beyond fundings, the startups also won for themselves investment and support from Visa and its partners.

If Visa determines in its sole discretion that a Brief Winner has created a standout solution, Visa may provide further investment and mentoring support to that Brief Winner, subject to the parties agreeing on a suitable development program and additional terms for the investment. -Visa

Having seen FinTechs in Africa making giant strides; not only to bring more convenience to customers but also to reach out to the unbanked and underbanked and connect to the formal banking system, The Visa Everywhere Initiative expanded to Sub-Saharan Africa for the very first time. It received about 238 from across Sub-Saharan Africa out which the 12 finalists were selected.

These startups were VoguePay, CredPal, Loystar, and Growsel (Zowasel) from Nigeria; M-Changa, Mookh, WayaWaya , nd LipaPlus from Kenya; Swipe2Pay from Uganda; Brig Africa from Zambia; and Howler and FinChatBot from South Africa.