A pair of twentysomethings from Uganda and Ghana thought there was a fortune to be made bringing transnational financial services to Africa's 1.2 billion people. With 5 million users, San Francisco-based Chipper Cash is just getting started.
and Ham Serunjogi, a 24-year-old Ugandan immigrant, thought the pitch he was making to a Palo Alto venture capital firm was going well. He had explained how his fintech startup, Chipper Cash, would enable African consumers to send money to each other, across national borders, more cheaply and easily than the antiquated banking system—a sort of Venmo for the continent.
Sheel Mohnot, a former partner at 500 Startups—Chipper Cash’s first backer—chalks up some early investor resistance to ignorance about Africa. “No one was investing in Africa at the time,” he says. That has changed. Per CB Insights, venture capitalists invested $1.5 billion in African fintech companies last year, up sevenfold from 2020. Sub-Saharan Africans today have 605 million registered mobile money accounts—with which they can send cash via text message—up from 469 million in 2018.
After high school, Serunjogi followed his older brother to Grinnell, a small liberal arts college in Iowa known for its strong academics, where both swam varsity. At Grinnell he met Moujaled, a Ghanaian computer science major who had started a popular student coding group. Almost immediately, the two began talking about developing an African money transfer app. But first they wanted real-world tech experience and needed work visas.
Canada Latest News, Canada Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
A’s continue to slide into the abyss in loss to Red SoxThe A’s have lost five straight — their second-longest losing streak of the season.
Read more »
Athletics can’t keep pace with Red Sox, suffer another loss at homeThe A’s are now 1-7 to start their 10-game homestand.
Read more »
This Cybertruck camper has endless features but costs a whopping $24,000A new Tesla Cybertruck camper, built by a startup called Space Campers from California, has many luxury features, but it is kind of on the expensive side.
Read more »
Are the world's most powerful supercomputers operating in secret?The world's first exascale supercomputer - one capable of a billion billion operations per second - has been officially announced, but it is thought that at least two others have been operating in China since 2021
Read more »
North Korean Hackers Used Binance for Laundering Millions of Dollars Worth of Crypto: ReutersBad actors have laundered billions of dollars worth of crypto with help of Binance, according to Reuters
Read more »
Cardinals score 4 in 10th to beat Cubs 7-4, split doubleheaderCardinals rookie Brendan Donovan hit a two-run double in the 10th inning and St. Louis overcame a baserunning mistake to beat the Chicago Cubs 7-4 and split a doubleheader Saturday.
Read more »