Ugandan fintech startup, Emata has been selected as one of 14 companies to take part in the CATAPULT: Inclusion Africa 2021, a prestigious accelerator program developed by the LHoFT Foundation. The program targets companies focusing on improving 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.
CATAPULT: Inclusion Africa announced the 14 fintech startups with Emata being the only fintech startup from Uganda selected to take part in the program. The selected startups including Emata will have an 8 day training and networking bootcamp hosted online. The bootcamp leverages Luxembourg’s Inclusive Finance and Fintech ecosystem to support the selected startups in developing their businesses and achieving their inclusion goals.
Emata a product of Laboremus Uganda founded in 2017 is a financial inclusive initiative aimed at bringing financial services to the underbanked in Uganda. The company digitizes farmers’ cooperatives and gives farmers access to digital and affordable financial products.
Emata has been developed through continuous interaction with farmers and cooperatives —this has ensured that important functionalities such as offline capabilities are built into the platform. In addition to this, advanced financial technology, innovative credit scoring models and automation of most manual processes will give farmers easy access to affordable loans.
Emata is the result of Laboremus’ experiences working with financial technology both in Europe and East Africa. Since starting up in Uganda in 2013, the company quickly realized that the opportunities technology offers were not being fully utilized, especially in rural areas. Laboremus believes that technology can do much more to solve pervasive problems in the region, especially when it comes to advancing financial inclusion.
CATAPULT: Inclusion Africa 2021 is the third edition of this unique program of fintech startup development. The 13 others startups selected for the program include; Moja Bank (Ivory Coast), AWABAH (Nigeria), Mosabi (Sierra Leone), Mipango (Tanzania), Igugu Global (Nigeria), Chromepay (Israel), Nokwary Technologies (Ghana), Kotani Pay (Kenya), Juakali (France), RePay.Africa (Kenya), Crop2Cash (Nigeria), Asilimia France (France), and Vooli Insurtech (Kenya).
The investors for the program include; 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 to mention a few.
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.
