Meet the 15 African startups selected for 2022 Catapult inclusion programme

The Luxembourg House of Financial Technology (LHoFT) has announced the selection of 15 African startups from over 400 applicants for the fifth edition of its CATAPULT Inclusion African program.

This year’s edition of CATAPULT Inclusion Africa programme will harness Luxembourg’s Inclusive Finance and Fintech ecosystem to assist chosen firms in building their operations and attaining their inclusion goals.

The startup acceleration Bootcamp is organised for fintech startups and is slated to take place in Luxembourg between the 24th and 28th of October 2022. The African countries represented on this year’s CATAPULT Inclusion African list include Mali, Cameroon, Zambia, Kenya, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, and Uganda.

In this piece, we will share a bit about the African startups selected for the fifth edition.

Meet the 15 African startups selected

AFRICRED (Bamako, Mali)

AFRICRED, which was founded in 2020, is a platform of the fintech AFA Digital Finance and an African fintech solution.

Its mission is to provide digital finance solutions (adapted blockchain-based technology adapted loans to grow loan portfolios) to microfinance, micro-insurance to unbanked and MSME companies across Africa, and banks on a revenue-sharing model, via innovative technology, a new business model, and an adaptive financial solution.

AgrixTech (Yaounde, Cameroon)

Agrix Tech, founded in 2018, is an Agri-FinTech company that assists small-scale farmers in transitioning from subsistence farming to commercial farming while maximising profit.

Agrix Tech packages give farmers everything they need, including funding, farm inputs, consulting, insurance, and market access when possible.

The company uses machine learning and satellite data to improve credit decisions, and automated operations keep costs low and process scalable.

Alajo (Lagos, Nigeria)

Alajo is a personal finance platform founded in 2021 that is designed to be the smart solution to the traditional savings system for the under(un)banked and non-smartphone users, using USSD and SMS Infrastructure.

The platform also integrates Data Analytics through AI/ML to help them save money every day. It also keeps their financial records and uses them to develop a credit score system as well as provide advice to help users can make better financial decisions.

ChapChap Africa (Kampala, Uganda)

ChapChap Africa, founded in 2016, provides financial digital solutions to African MSMEs by helping informal entrepreneurs to establish new business lines as well as providing financial services to low-income earners.

It helps business owners to automate bookkeeping so they can build a verifiable digital credit profile.

From value-added services to new prospects to finance through their partners, ChapChap Africa is constructing a long-term ecosystem for MSMEs to develop and thrive with them as partners.

ComGrow (Lusaka, Zambia) 

ComGrow is a fintech startup that digitises informal savings and credit groups among friends and family networks, giving a plethora of opportunities as well as an end-to-end secure, technical solution for village banking operations.

Their goal is to provide financial assistance to persons who do not have access to traditional banking services.

With ComGrow, users keep track of all individuals who participate, what organisations they belong to, how much and when they transact, and any other data supplied relevant to each user on the platform.

Radava Mercentile (Nairobi, Kenya)

Radava Mercantile, an Agritech firm founded in 2021, is on a mission to empower smallholder farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa with an agricultural commodities exchange market, alternative financing, and post-harvest technologies.

Starting with its electronic receipt system, the company improves trade by linking smallholder farmers to a global marketplace and deploying a viable commodities exchange model for the African market.

Read Also: Meet the 23 Nigerian startups selected for Google’s Black Founders Fund cohort II

Hello Tractor (Nairobi, Kenya)

Hello Tractor, which was founded in 2014, is a PAYG loan technology finance company that enables low-risk, lower-cost financing for rural entrepreneurs while de-risking the creditor through tractor investments into pre-booked assets.

Its flexible payback approach remotely tracks finished work and as assets are repaid, effort and investment are repaid. 

Kayko (Kigali, Rwanda)

Kayko’s Mobile App assists small businesses in streamlining their financial administration and providing simple access to financial services. Small company owners can use the Kayko app to record their sales, costs, and credits, as well as access financial services more quickly and easily.

Kayko is on a mission to transform the narrative of small businesses in Africa, where everyone who interacts with them regards them as high-risk and unimportant.

The company intends to help these hardworking entrepreneurs obtain the respect and support they deserve as they transition from informal to formal economies.

Lami Insurtech (Nairobi, Kenya)

Lami Insurtech, founded in 2018, is on a mission to revolutionise insurance for African underwriters and businesses through an end-to-end insurance platform and robust APIs.

Their mission is to democratise financial goods and services through the use of a unique technological platform that facilitates the distribution, servicing, and exceptional growth of sophisticated financial products for very broad user bases.

Nkwa (Buea, Cameroon)

Nkwa is a personal finance tool that allows users to plan, save, and invest their money. The Nkwa app helps individuals reach their financial goals and this empowers the African community with a way to gain financial knowledge.

Hence, it helps to promote financial inclusion and development The platform motivates users by offering a 3% PA interest rate on their desired savings.

Proxalys (Dakar, Senegal)

ProXalys SAS is a startup with the goal of digitising West African informal trading. It enables local store owners to purchase agricultural products as well as consumer goods at the highest quality/price ratio possible, with the option to pay in instalments.

One of its applications, ProBoutik, allows merchants to assess their credit and finally take advantage of our financing offer. ProCash is also incorporated into the ProBoutik application, allowing individuals to accept cash via mobile money and conduct financial transactions with total security.

Servichain (Luxembourg, Luxembourg)

Servichain efficiently proposes digital and financial services by leveraging blockchain benefits. The company apps and services solve financial inclusion and identification issues on blockchain addresses using mobile phones.

Servichain web3 mobile wallet is the most accessible and simple for people to use; it is a gift for the unbanked population.

The wallet can be used to secure and use digital assets, as well as to access financial services on the blockchain using digital assets such as savings, online purchases, and remittances.

Sosocare (Abuja, Nigeria)

SOSO CARE is a health insurtech startup that aims to use recyclable waste as a financial resource in Africa, allowing millions of uninsured slum residents, primarily pregnant women and children, to acquire micro health insurance across over 1000 hospitals around the country.

SOSO CARE delivers access to healthcare while also driving environmental sustainability by linking recyclables to healthcare.

Yalla Solutions (Cairo, Egypt)

Yalla Solutions is a digital financial services platform, that democratizes access to financial services to the masses using digital-first, user friendly experience in the form of a card + Super App.

DanAid (Douala, Cameroon)

DanAid is a micro-health insurance platform that provides Africans in the diaspora with real-time access to money for their care through their mobile.

DanAid is the only Mutual Health Organization with a national dimension. It also provides micro-insurance services aimed at improving access to quality health care for families.

What to expect

For the selected Fintech startups, CATAPULT Inclusion Africa offers a customised curriculum that includes rigorous mentoring, coaching, peer-to-peer learning, and dedicated seminars.

Session topics will include business model mapping, investment preparedness, finance and capital raising, social impact, scaling strategy, team building, operational management, investor advisory meetings, and pitch development.

Also, previous winners of the CATAPULT Inclusion African program will be in attendance to conduct instructional sessions and mentoring. Furthermore, this year’s chosen firms will actively engage in the Arch Summit on October 26 and 27.

About the CATAPULT Inclusion Africa program

The CATAPULT Inclusion African was developed by the LHoFT Foundation and sponsored by the Ministry of Foreign & European Affairs -Directorate for Development and Humanitarian Affairs.

It began the inclusion of African startups in 2018 and has since been targeted at startups/companies focused on financial inclusion in Africa in alignment with Luxembourg’s finance sustainability goals.

Key partners include Ada, Infine, Luxembourg for Finance, the Alliance for Financial Inclusion (AFI), the European Investment Bank (EIB), Luxembourg Microfinance and Development Fund, Bamboo Capital Group, Double Feather Partners, SPTF, LuxDev, Business Partnership Facility, ACRC, Compelio, and other during the CATAPULT Inclusion African program.