Recently, Visa closed submissions for the 2023 Cohort of its acceleration program and after a rigorous selection process, a total of 23 startups have been picked. The purpose of the Visa Accelerator Program is to assist startups in expanding their growth and presence. Usually, It involves collaboration between startups and Visa’s experts to create joint solutions focusing on digital payments’ significant opportunities. Although the initiative was just recently launched, the goal is to do great work putting many startups in the spotlight and helping them navigate their growth process easily.
While the application was open, Visa stated that some of its selection criteria included interested startups having solutions that can address any of the Global Money Movement, Embedded Finance, Merchant and Small Business Enablers, and Open Banking.
In the end, about 23 startups from countries including Ghana, Kenya, Egypt, Uganda, Morrocco, Zambia, South Africa, and Tunisia were able to meet the requirements outlined by Visa with more Nigerian startups leading the pack. The startups selected include:
6 from Nigeria;
- Moni – Provide loans to businesses and allow individuals to save.
- Dojah– helps businesses and product owners to onboard users safely.
- Anchor – provide tools such as dashboards and APIs needed by African businesses.
- OkHi – Allow businesses to seamlessly find their customer’s addresses.
- Orda Africa – cloud operating system provider for African Restaurants.
- Traction – financial tools for all business owners
4 from Ghana;
- The Blu Penguin – allows cashless transactions by providing businesses with POS systems.
- OZE – building simple and relevant digital tools for business owners and professionals.
- AgroCenta – offers financial services to smallholder farmers.
- Affinity Africa – provides affordable banking services to individuals and MSMEs.
3 from Kenya;
- Duhqa – B2B platform that enables retailers to connect with manufacturers and suppliers easily and safely.
- Power – provides users with financial education tools and allows them to pay, save, and borrow money.
- WorkPay – provides companies with important HR and payroll tools.
3 from Morocco;
- Chari – offers several retail services as a B2B company.
- PayTic – provides risk control tools for digital payments.
- Weego – provides different transportation options and solutions.
3 from South Africa;
- FloatPays – allows users to buy now and pay later, making shopping quite easy.
- Franc – investing platform for individuals and businesses.
- OnLife – An all-purpose money management tool
4 from other parts of Africa;
- Konnect (Tunisia) – provide users with payment links via SMS, email, Messenger, or WhatsApp.
- Eversend (Uganda) – offers cross-border payments, currency exchange, and crypto services to its customers
- Sympl (Egypt) – Customers can buy and pay with no interest.
- Premiere Credit (Zambia) – loan and investment platform.
It is a big deal to have been selected to be part of the program because these startups are open to a truckload of rich benefits that include;
- Business and technical support to build and deploy solutions
- Introduction to Visa’s global network of clients and partners.
- Partnerships and commercialization opportunities after the program.
- Exclusive mentorship
- Business scalability and more.
Visa has graciously carried the passion of building the African fintech ecosystem for a while and has consistently been recognized for its remarkable work. The Accelerator program is another testament to its commitment to facilitating growth and innovation in the African fintech space.
