African Fintech Startups, Kwara And Karri, Join MasterCard Start Path Programme

Mastercard Start path is Mastercard’s program to accelerate growth for Startups by “creating an engaging springboard to help the best and brightest later stage startups, maximize their opportunity for success”.

This stage of partnership by Mastercard, is only for innovative startups that have passed the Pre-seed funding stage, and second stage funding. By joining Mastercard start path program, startups position themselves for success as they benefit from a dedicated expert team, and network with global investors that will accelerate the startup’s goals. Global investors work with Companies across finance, retail, security, customer engagement and payment sectors.

Karri – South Africa’s mobile money app for comprehensive collection of donations by educational institutions and other community sectors, and Kwara – Kenya’s mobile money for Savings and Credit Cooperative Societies (SACCO), are set to join nine other companies fintech companies across several of the world’s locations, to explore the power of Mastercard’s start path program. These companies will receive bankable support, access to customers and product teams, also opportunities to partner for innovation purposes.

Start path was founded in 2014, and since then, it has consistently partnered with startups to push their ideas and goals. So far, over 260 startups have joined the program, and have been able to raise $5 billion in capital per startup funding.

Finmod, Flourish Savings, GenEQTY, KeyChain Pay, Layer, Osper,Swap, upSWOT and Wellthi, are startups joining the program with Karri and Kwara.   

The objective of this program is to groom fintech startups to develop strategic, world-changing innovative ideas.

Vice President of Mastercard Labs, Amy Neale, says: “we’ve seen tremendous growth across the fintech landscape, and more people are benefitting from the digital economy than ever before, whether they are gaining access to credit for their small businesses through open banking or securely making payments to their child’s school from the comfort of their smartphone”.

In the end, these startups would benefit greatly from getting on this program by Mastercard. The program opens a way to set them on the path to success.