Koree, the Cameroonian fintech startup, has closed a $200,000 pre-seed investment to grow its merchant base, scale its user base, and achieve product-market fit.
The funding round came from Tunde Akinnuwa, co-founder at Duplo, Cameroon Angels Network, Catalytic Africa, Digital Africa, and other private investors.
Launched by Magalie Gauze-Sanga in September 2022, Koree lets merchants return consumers’ spare change in their wallets directly at the till, to tackle the spare change issue. Koree aims to solve the problem of spare change in cash-based economies by using a card and digital wallet that allows merchants to return their customers’ spare change. With Koree’s product, these merchants can also create loyalty programmes where customers can earn cashback rewards.
Koree has registered more than 13,000 users and processed over 50,000 cash-based transactions worth $400,000. In that time, the fintech has also generated 30,000 private wallets. Its revenue source stems from charging merchants a subscription fee in addition to a commission on each transaction for its customers.
In June 2023, Koree won the Orange Fab Cameroon challenge. With the fintech’s aim to expand across the continent, especially within francophone Africa, the Orange Fab acceleration programme will provide resources targeted at expansion. Orange’s network of industry experts will provide mentorship for Koree’s strategic development plans.
In October, Koree won the Ecobank Fintech Challenge, taking home $50,000 in non-dilutive funding. This funding is already being used to hire in business development and engineering roles.
To achieve its objective of raising the pre-seed fund, Koree is set to launch a new marketplace that will enable users to get rewards on their everyday purchases. “Consumers will now earn cash when they shop on the Koree app, across 14 categories ranging from bakery, supermarket, fast food, movies, pharmacy etc,” Gauze-Sanga.
“They shop as usual and earn a certain percentage of their spending. The money Koree users earn in their wallet is hard cash, which they can redeem directly into their mobile money account.”
