Payments company Visa has announced strategic investments in four start-ups that graduated from the inaugural cohort of its Visa Africa Fintech Accelerator programme.
The start-ups, operating across multiple African nations, are Ghana’s Oze, which offers smart tools for SMEs; Kenya-headquartered HR tech firm Workpay;smart addressing system OkHi, based in Nigeria; and ORDA, a cloud-based restaurant software firm digitising over 1 500 restaurants across Nigeria, Kenya and SA.
In a statement, Visa says the investments align with its pledge to invest $1 billion in the continent by 2027, helping drive fintech growth across Africa.
Godfrey Sullivan, senior VP of products, partnerships and digital solutions for Visa CEMEA, says: “Visa sees each investment as a unique opportunity to drive financial access and inclusion, and we are proud to support these start-ups as they realise their vision for a more connected Africa.”
According to Visa, additional investments and commercial partnerships with the programme’s graduates are being finalised.
Meghan McCormick, CEO of Oze, says: “This investment marks the latest pivotal moment in our journey, enabling us to scale our innovations to continue supporting SMEs across Africa – something that we and our shareholders are truly passionate about.”
Timbo Drayson, co-founder and CEO of OkHi, adds: “We are thrilled to welcome Visa onboard as we continue to disrupt the industry and redefine what’s possible through our identity verification solutions. The future is bright, and partnerships like this help us take a step forward toward achieving our vision.”
Guy Futi, co-founder of ORDA, states: “We are proud to have an established payments leader such as Visa be part of our growth journey. We see this investment as a mark of trust in our vision. We look forward to driving innovation together, one order at a time.”
Paul Kimani, co-founder and CEO of Workpay, notes: “We are happy to have Visa in our corner. As a trusted leader in digital payments, Visa’s support pushes us toward our goal of delivering innovative solutions and streamlining backend processes for all.”
Announced in 2023, the Visa Africa Fintech Accelerator programme is a three-month, intensive programme that supports Seed to Series A start-ups by offering one-on-one mentorship, training and exclusive opportunities for funding and partnership.
It is supported by Amazon Web Services, which offers free cloud services to cohort participants.
Graduates of the second cohort will have the opportunity to present their innovative capabilities during a demo day, on 2 December in Cape Town, to an audience of venture capitalists, angel investors, ecosystem enablers and business partners.
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