Ugandan startups Beyonic and Tech4Farmers are among the 10 African startups that will enter the Barclays RISE programme. The programme, run in partnership with TechStars, aims to provide mentorship and development for startups working to disrupt financial technology innovations.
Created by Barclays, RISE aims to offer the ultimate conditions for innovation and growth in financial services. The 10 companies that have been chosen range from solutions empowering the financial literacy and inclusion of people with special needs, to solutions allowing governments to convert physical land titles to digital copies on an irrefutable platform secured on the Blockchain.
The Accelerator programme will end in a Demo Day at the end of June where the companies will present their businesses to prospective investors.
Beyonic is a firm that’s enabling businesses to quickly deploy and manage two-way mobile money payments to eliminate the need to make payments using cash. Through the use of web services and APIs, businesses can access payee and workflow management systems that greatly reduce fraud.
Joining Beyonic is a technology that provides viable solutions to promoting sustainable agriculture by leveraging innovative uses of ICTs and mobile phones – Tech4Farmers. This firm provides farmers with real-time access to market information through an electronic commodity exchange and electronic warehouse receipt system.
The other 8 African startups in the programme include;
A mobile platform that partners with credit co-operatives to allow their members to conveniently deposit, withdraw and access instant micro-loans as well as access other credit services.
BenBen
A solution for governments to convert physical land titles to digital copies on an irrefutable platform secured on the Blockchain. Additionally, they provide citizens with a mobile application, website, and Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) platform for them to manage their properties.
Send money to family and friends’ bank accounts or mobile wallets in Africa (from abroad) in a convenient and cheap way. Customers can also use their bill settlement technology to pay merchants in Africa (e.g. universities, utilities). It also enables individuals to open a bank account back home using the app.
Simplifies church administration for leaders and improves engagement with members via mobile apps.
A lending platform that determines credit worthiness based on social reputation on Social Media platforms. The platform is licensed to financial institutions.
Complete parking solutions app allowing entry and exit to shopping malls, airports, commercial property, office parks, residential property and gated communities via a smartphone.
Provide tools and apps that empower the financial literacy and inclusion of people with special needs. The ReAble Wallet uses technology such as opitical character recognition (OCR) to allow users to conduct transactions by simply taking a picture of the receipt. The app then scans the receipt and informs the user of the total amount to pay, the optimal combination of bills and then validates the change received.
Micro-health insurance that is administered from a mobile handset. From cover registration, options browsing, premium payment (via mobile money), profile management, benefits wallet (ledger) management to claim (hospital) payments.
