As we launch in May a new edition of the FintechHub in Rwanda, the first cohort comprised of four fintech startup companies have graduated from a six-month acceleration programme.

Implemented by the Rwanda ICT Chamber in partnership with UNCDF Rwanda, the Government of Rwanda and Kigali Innovation City, the FinTecHub supports innovative early-stage companies through a combination of bespoke technical assistance, access to market and flexible milestone-based grants, linkage to mentor and other potential partners that can accelerate startups’ business growth.

The FinTechub is currently recruiting the next cohort of startups through a competitive application process that examines the growth level, sustainability, scalability, and inclusivity of the digital financial solutions that the applicants are developing.

The innovations developed by the graduating cohort range from a digital platform for informal collective saving schemes such as Village Saving and Loans Associations (VSLA), digital wallets, to a tech-based factoring firm that provides tailored working capital solutions to small- and medium-enterprises (SMEs), and a payments aggregator that help large and small businesses access digital payment application programming interfaces (APIs) through mobile money, Visa, and MasterCard.

“Working with FinTechHub has enabled us to streamline our data with the help of an excellent mentor , as well as helped us raise some issues to the policymakers with the emphasis we would not have achieved on our own. Additionally, being part of a cohort has allowed us to learn from our peers and get support and encouragement on the startup journey during a challenging time of COVID-19.” Notes Sara Oon, the CEO of Benefactors, one of the FinTech startups that participated in the program

All the four startups that participated in the first cohort received technical support and a milestone-based grant worth between $5,000 and $20,000 to improve their businesses post-training. They were also linked with mentors who guided them through strategy, leadership, talent management, technology, impact investment and customer acquisition.

Victoria Munguti, the Managing Director of Hepta Pay Ltd, another graduate startup, said the programme has helped her company to think of other ways their companies can establish new revenue streams. “We were trained on investment strategies and investor identification, as well as market penetration strategies for our projects. In addition, the FinTechHub helped us a lot in doing in-depth research regarding our upcoming product related to retail management systems for the SMEs sector.

The FinTecHub project partners aim to create an environment with several services to improve the competitiveness of local startup companies particularly those ones in the financial technology space. “We want to support our startups so that they are able to grow their customer base and raise money to scale up while facilitating partner mobilization to start those interconnections and collaboration that will help them to thrive,” stated Alex Ntale, the CEO of ICT Chamber which oversees the programme implementation.

Roselyne Uwamahoro, UNCDF Rwanda Programme Coordinator noted that the FinTecHub project is part of the United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) Rwanda goals to advance Inclusive Digital Economies. “We are working to nurture a culture of innovation to help fintechs in Rwanda develop solutions that are needed by financial markets to adapt the fast-changing dynamics and the evolving needs of customers unleashed by new technologies.”

More information about Rwanda FinTecHub available here