The Luxembourg House of Financial Technology (LHoFT) Foundation has selected 14 Fintech startups to take part in the 2021 edition of CATAPULT: Inclusion Africa.
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. In keeping with the times, and with public health guidelines, this edition will be entirely digital.
CATAPULT: Inclusion Africa is sponsored by the Ministry of Foreign & European Affairs – Directorate for Development and Humanitarian Affairs, and supported by the Alliance for Financial Inclusion as well as key strategic partners such as ADA, InFine, University of Luxembourg, LuxFlag, Innpact, LuxAfrica, ACRC, MicroInsurance Network, CCGAP, LMDF, SPTF, UABA, the European Investment Bank and Compellio.
Also, the following investors will join and work with the selected startups throughout the program: Bamboo Partners, TLG Capital, ZedCrest Capital, Rising Tide Africa, Outlierz, Angaza Capital, Anza Capital, Baobab Group, Beyond Capital, Advans, CRE VC, DRK Foundation, AfricInvest, Triodos Capital, Sherpa Africa Partners and more.
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 2018 and 2020 Catapult Alumni will join the 2021 cohort, delivering sessions and mentorship – leveraging their own experience from the ground.
Meet the startups
AWABAH, Lagos, Nigeria
We provide access to retirement savings for Africa’s unbanked and underbanked population. We are improving the customer experience when interacting with pensions by merging financial literacy with easy-to-use technology.
Crop2Cash, Ibadan, Nigeria
Banks and Development Finance Institutions (DFIs) find agricultural financing risky, which has created a $330 billion funding gap in agriculture globally. With our tools, they can provide this finance with a high level of assurance that it would be efficiently used by the farmers.
Igugu Global, Lagos, Nigeria
Igugu Global is accelerating the flow of capital to Africa’s US$1.5 trillion sustainable infrastructure gap. We are solving the problem of fragmentation in financial markets by providing ESG mapping, structuring and due diligence for green building, transport and energy portfolios.
Emata, Kampala, Uganda
Emata is disrupting the $65bn agricultural financing opportunity in Africa. The company digitizes farmers’ cooperatives and gives farmers access to digital and affordable financial products.
Moja Bank, Abidjan, Ivory Coast
We provide a digital payment App and a contactless card which is used by consumers to facilitate everyday payment in emerging markets. Consumers in the US use the App to manage their finances, and send money to their families back home.
Mosabi, Freetown, Sierra Leone
Mosabi links fintech and edtech with embedded, gamified upskilling for Africa’s financial products and platforms. This helps underserved citizens improve decisions and behaviours on their businesses and money. We harness data insights from user profiles and journeys, to match them to best fits across a marketplace of digital financial services.
Mipango, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
Mipango is a personal finance mobile application that enables users to manage their income, expenses, savings, financial targets, help and offerings. Mipango app uses artificial intelligence to guide users to better financial management and financial deals towards attaining financial freedom.
Nokwary Technologies, Accra, Ghana
We are excited about the potential of AI in the financial space, and its capacity to promote financial inclusion. Voice User Interface systems, for instance, enable people who cannot see, as well as people who cannot read and write, to interact with banking apps and systems through spoken commands.
Kotani Pay, Nairobi, Kenya
Kotani Pay is a technology stack that enables Blockchain protocols, dApps, and Blockchain FinTech companies to integrate seamlessly into local payment channels providing them with a reliable on-ramp and off-ramp service to reach a wider customer base in Africa.
RePay.Africa, Nairobi, Kenya
RePay Africa’s API driven platform serves as an electronic alternative to cash, cheques & banks for the un-banked Sub-Saharan Africa. Africa-wide payment & transfer platform that supports online money transfers and bill payments to merchants.
Vooli Insurtech, Nairobi, Kenya
Vooli is a client-centric, technology-driven, disruptive insurtech, that offers on-demand general insurance through its app and website. Vooli bills users based on the duration they need insurance e.g. annually or semi-annually, and also seamlessly.
Asilimia France, Paris, France
Asilimia is an android application that allows informal traders in Africa to create a formal business account within their personal mobile money account. With Asilimia, all their future B2B transactions will be categorized as business transactions even though initiated from their personal mobile money account, saving 90% of their mobile money transaction fees.
Juakali, Paris, France
At Juakali, we simplify financial institutions’ lives by eliminating paperwork & automating valueless tasks, so that employees can make the most of their time at work and companies boost their productivity.
Chromepay, Tel Aviv, Israel
Chromepay provides merchants and vendors with an affordable way to run all financial aspects of their business without using a bank or POS system. Our platform allows each merchant to manage products and generate invoices embedded in a unique QR code that can be scanned by customers to instantly pay for goods and services.
