African fintech startups, Kwara and Karri, join Mastercard Start Path Programme

 

South Africa’s Karri and Kenya’s Kwara have been selected to participate in the Mastercard Start Path Programme.

MasterCard Start Path partners with innovative startups that are already funded, and have a drive to transform the commerce sector.

The accelerators work with visionary early-stage companies across the finance, retail, customer engagement, security and payments sectors.

Together with nine fintech companies from across the world, Kwara and Karri will receive reliable support, access to customers and product teams, including opportunities to co-innovate.

Amy Neale, vice president at Mastercard Labs had this to say:

“We’ve seen tremendous growth across the fintech landscape, and more people are benefitting from the digital economy than ever before, whether they’re gaining access to credit for their small business through open banking or securely making payments to their child’s school from the comfort of their smartphone.”

The objective of the programme is to groom fintech startups to develop greater innovation to change the world. Mastercard creates a springboard for these companies driving a more inclusive digital economy.

Since founding Start Path in 2014, Mastercard has a track record of collaborating with startups. The company has uncovered co-innovation opportunities and provided mentorship to over 260 startups that have gone on to collectively raise over $5 billion in capital.

Together with Finmod, Flourish Savings, GenEQTY, KeyChain Pay, Layer, Osper, Swap, upSWOT and Wellthi, startups also participating in the programme, Kwara and Karri were selected to join the growing network to rapidly scale their business:

South Africa’s Karri is a digital payment startup that helps make fast and easy payments to schools and community organisations, providing a convenient way to help parents manage their children’s finances.

Kenyan-based Kwara leverages a credit union operating system and provides a neobank experience for its members. The startup focuses on transforming credit unions into modern, digital banks.