Kenya’s Kotani Pay Among 10 Finalists in U.S Chamber of Commerce Innovation Competition for African Startups

KotaniPay is one of 10 startups that have made it past a list of 17,000 applicants drawn from 50 countries that applied to the Africa Digital Innovation Competition for African Startups.

The competition was put together by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s US – Africa Business Center and intends to boost early-stage startups on the continent by pooling a network of resources that includes technology industry experts, mentors, funds, and more.

Kotani Pay is the only blockchain/crypto organization selected in the top ten and CEO and Co-Founder, Felix Macharia, said they want to use this opportunity to show that crypto has more use cases beyond speculation. He also highlighted the impact their work is creating across African communities:

It’s now possible for small businesses on the continent to receive lending from decentralized finance pools that are global in nature and they receive this lending at lower rates than they would ideally get in Kenya. Universal Basic Income programs focused on extreme poverty communities like refugees and climate – resilience use cases, including parametric weather insurance for farmers in Africa

According to Macharia, Kotani Pay is a technology stack that connects blockchain protocols to local payment channels such as MPESA in Kenya. Fintech companies integrate Kotani’s technology seamlessly into the local payment channels accessing a reliable exchange service to reach a wider customer base.

Besides Kenya, Kotani Pay operates in Ghana and wants to move into more African countries.

Besides Kotani Pay, below is the full list of startups selected in the top ten with a majority drawn from agricultural and social services:

• Kotani Pay – Kenya
• Grant Master – Nigeria
• Shopa – Ghana
• FarmHut – Zimbabwe
• HealthBiotics – Nigeria
• VAIS – Egypt
• SkyVue Solutions – Cameroon
• GrowAgric Limited – Kenya
• Traderex Limited – Ghana
• ValleyBee – Nigeria

Applicants applied by June 30th 2022 from a call-out that sought ‘small and medium-sized businesses accelerating digitally-enabled growth with cross-border, interoperable, and cross-domain services, and solutions.’

The competition also has a focus on 3 broad thematic areas:

• Fintech and Cyber Solutions – Covering data flow solutions, cross-border digital platform solutions, mobile technology, intellectual property management, cyber security, and digital movement of creative art (movies, music, art)
• Sustainability & Supply Chain Solutions – Covering smart manufacturing, e-commerce, management of shared economies, improvement to digital supply chain, logistics solutions to e-commerce businesses, and Agriculture technology (AgTech)
• Human Development & Social Services Solutions – Covering digital health solutions, and e-learning platforms

The best solutions stand to win a share of $75, 000 cash, plus laptops, annual subscriptions to digital platforms, mentoring, and digital marketing/advertising services.

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