Kenyan fintech startup, CheckUp Medical Hub has been shortlisted among 16 other startups that will participate in the second cohort of Africa Fintech Accelerator Program run by global digital payments firm, Visa.
The firm operates a tech-enabled medication procurement and delivery service in Kenya and South Sudan to help patients get medicines and diagnostics at home and at work as fast as possible and at the best prices in the market.
Essentially, the shortlisting Africa Fintech Accelerator will see the startup benefiting from the biannual program that offers 12 weeks of one on one mentorship and personalized training, providing seed to “A” series startups with exclusive opportunities to access funding, development, and resources as part of Visa’s work to unlock financial innovation across the continent.
In a statement from Visa announcing the shortlisting, the global digital payment firm said cohort “2” startups operate across 28 African countries, a 55 percent increase from Cohort “1” where the representatives operated across 18 countries. 65 percent of them feature female leadership, rising from 43 percent in the inaugural edition.
The selected startups offer a range of solutions, such as neo-banking, merchant payments, credit scoring, risk and identity management, embedded finance, social commerce, escrow services, and more. They aim to address the challenges and opportunities in the African fintech landscape, such as financial inclusion, access to credit, cross-border payments, and digital transformation.
Aida Diarra, Vice President, and Head of Sub-Saharan Africa at Visa, the payment service firm believes in uplifting innovation while driving access and inclusion across the financial ecosystem.
“Today, we are proud to say that our second cohort of Accelerator participants represents more than 50% of countries across Africa, up from a third during our first cohort. Not only that–but women are in leadership roles across the majority of these cutting-edge startups. We have a robust, diverse selection of innovators seeking to shape the future of commerce and finance – and Visa is happy to help them take the next step to where they need to be,” said Diarra.
The Accelerator program, launched in June 2023, is reflective of Visa’s ongoing efforts to help uplift the digital economy in Africa, including a pledge to invest $1 billion in the continent by 2027 to help revolutionize the payments ecosystem.
The 12-week virtual Accelerator program will conclude with an in-person Demo Day, where startups will have the opportunity to pitch their innovations to key ecosystem players, funding partners, angel investors, and venture capitalists, enabling them to take small steps towards unlocking their full potential.
The program builds on the success of the first cohort, who graduated in February 2024 with an investor week in Nairobi that saw the participation of more than 250 attendees including banking and fintech partners, investors and venture capital firms. The first cohort startups have since reported positive outcomes from the program, such as increased user growth, product enhancements, funding opportunities, and strategic partnerships with Visa and other industry players.
Brian Dempsey, Founder and CEO of Power, a Kenyan startup that issues partner employees access to short and long-term loans, investment opportunities and insurance products who participated in the first cohort said Accelerator Program has been valuable for his firm.
“Each week, I have been able to include multiple team members on topics that are really important for our growing business such as human resource, finance, governance, Go to market strategies and so forth. The quality of the mentors and speakers has been top notch and the Accelerator team always available when needed,” said Dempsey.
Other firms shortlisted for the program include Ethiopia’s merchant solution startup, Chapa, Tanzania’s business to business marketplace, AzamPay, and social commerce solution provider Beem. From Cote D’Ivoire Visa shortlisted Merchant Payments Solution startup Bizao and enabler infrastructure firm while from Cameroun money movement startup Iwoni Technologies and merchant payment solution provider Proboutik were shortlisted.
Six Nigeria startups namely Aku (neo-banking), Cleva (money movement), Curacel (insurance management), E-doc Online (open banking), Raenest (money movement), Bridgecard (enabler infrastructure), while in South Africa and D.R.Congo, Truzo (escrow services) and Vaultpay (merchant payments solution) were shortlisted respectively.