California-based investor and accelerator Expert Dojo is not waiting till the proposed launch of its Africa programme in September this year to continue its investment strides in African startups. The investor which had previously invested in Cameroon’s StarNews and Egypt’s MARJ3 has led a R15.8 million ($1.1 million) in funding pre-seed funding in South African FinTech startup, Akiba Digital. Oui Capital also joined the round, which also includes Basecamp Fund, Soma Capital, Hustle Fund, Future Africa, LoftyInc, a former PayPal executive, and a few angel investors.
Akiba Digital will use the funds to expand its market share in South Africa and link over 20,000 SMEs to lenders via its ecosystem.
“This year we are launching a Mandela day campaign to help 67 SMEs in July to rebuild after the recent disruptions in South Africa. We are looking to partner with lenders who want to help SMEs rebuild their businesses,” said Tebogo Mokwena, co-founder and CEO of Akiba Digital.
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“Through this initiative we as, Akiba Digital, will be zero-rating the loans provided by lenders (fund the loan fees) on behalf of the SMEs. Lenders who partner with us will get the SME leads that we score and vet using our lending intelligence solution.
“On the other side, we have launched our SME platform called Insyts that allows these SMEs in need of funding, apply for business financing seamlessly and further monitor their financial health all in one.”
Why The Investors Invested
Investment by Expert Dojo into Akiba Digital came on the heels of the recent acceptance of the startup into Expert Dojo’s international accelerator program. The Southern California-based accelerator invests $100,000 into each of its startups and helps them get traction and scale faster than they could ever do by themselves. Klasha from Nigeria and Akiba Digital joined 11 other startups from around the world in the worldwide early-stage startup accelerator’s Spring 2021 cohort. Expert Dojo has invested in over 100 startups, with 41% of them being created or led by women.
Notable African startups that have passed through Expert Dojo International Accelerator program include Nigeria’s ThankUCash and Klasha; Cameroon-headquartered pan-African mobile content platform StarNews Mobile and Egypt’s education technology startup, MARJ3 and BokDoc as well as Ghana’s KovaDx.
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The accelerator recently announced that it would establish an Africa program in September, pledging up to $5 million in fresh investments in early-stage African firms this year alone, ranging from 20 to 50.
A Look At What The Startup Does
Akiba Digital, which was founded in 2017, provides lenders with detailed credit analytics and real-time lending decisions, allowing them to better extend funds to small enterprises and people.
The company uses alternative datasets to provide inclusive scores that allow lenders to score people and small businesses who aren’t accessible to traditional credit bureaus — a problem that affects roughly 80% of small firms and individuals in Africa.
Akiba Digital Expert Dojo Akiba Digital Expert Dojo
Charles Rapulu Udoh
Charles Rapulu Udoh is a Lagos-based lawyer who has advised startups across Africa on issues such as startup funding (Venture Capital, Debt financing, private equity, angel investing etc), taxation, strategies, etc. He also has special focus on the protection of business or brands’ intellectual property rights ( such as trademark, patent or design) across Africa and other foreign jurisdictions.
He is well versed on issues of ESG (sustainability), media and entertainment law, corporate finance and governance.
He is also an award-winning write