Launch Africa Ventures

Launch Africa Ventures is a venture capital firm established in 2020 and headquartered in Ebene, Mauritius. The firm focuses on addressing the substantial funding gap in the seed and pre-Series A investment landscape across the African continent. By targeting early-stage companies, Launch Africa Ventures aims to support and enhance the growth of startups operating in various sectors throughout Africa, contributing to the development of the regional entrepreneurial ecosystem.

Zachariah George

Co-Founder and Managing Partner

Mohamed Karar

Venture Partner F1 and F2

Michael Mutie

VC Associate

Janade Du Plessis

Co-Founder and Managing Partner

Hannah Subayi

Partner, Board Member and Member of the Investment Committee

Janade Plessis Ph.D

Co-Founder and Managing Partner

Past deals in Payments

Happy Pay

Pre Seed Round in 2024
Happy Pay is a company focused on developing a credit scoring system that offers consumers a responsible alternative to traditional credit options. It operates a Buy Now Pay Later platform that allows users to make purchases and pay for them over time. To enhance the shopping experience, Happy Pay integrates an autonomous artificial intelligence technology system with merchants' platforms, aiming to increase their average basket size and improve customer conversion rates. By leveraging this innovative technology, Happy Pay seeks to provide a seamless and efficient service that benefits both consumers and merchants.

Cauri Money

Seed Round in 2024
Cauri Money is a financial services company that provides a range of digital solutions for managing and transferring funds. It offers users the ability to exchange, save, and send money through its platform, which includes features such as a wallet with a BG IBAN, peer-to-peer payments, virtual and physical Mastercards, and dedicated financial supervision. The service is accessible to anyone, regardless of their banking affiliation, making it convenient for users to handle daily expenditures and send money to Africa.

Kredete

Seed Round in 2024
Kredete is a financial technology platform that caters to the needs of African immigrants and businesses in North America. It provides a comprehensive suite of services, including instant foreign exchange rates, low-fee remittances to over 20 countries, and a digital banking experience aimed at enhancing financial health. Additionally, Kredete offers a digital lending marketplace that simplifies the credit application process, enabling users to manage their finances effectively. The platform facilitates loan applications, disbursement, repayment, and collection while also providing access to credit scores and reports. By tailoring credit products to individual needs, Kredete empowers clients to improve their credit scores and achieve better financial outcomes.

Balad

Pre Seed Round in 2023
Balad is a financial technology platform focused on serving migrants and their families by providing essential banking services. The platform specializes in facilitating cross-border remittances and offers features such as mobile banking applications and prepaid debit cards. Balad targets the underbanked families of Egyptian migrants, aiming to simplify the digital remittance process while minimizing transaction fees. In addition to remittances, the platform plans to expand its range of financial products, enabling migrants to ensure their families receive timely financial support. Through its innovative approach, Balad seeks to improve financial accessibility for those who face challenges in traditional banking systems.

Peach Payments

Series A in 2023
Peach Payments is a company that specializes in providing payment solutions for online and mobile businesses, facilitating the acceptance of payments from consumers worldwide, with a strong emphasis on emerging markets, particularly in Africa and the BRIC countries. The company has developed an online payment platform that offers a variety of electronic payment services. This platform features a well-documented API for easy integration, allows payment collection through email and SMS, and includes secure tokenization for storing card data. Additionally, it enhances user experience by enabling one-click checkouts, ensuring a safe and efficient transaction process across all digital channels.

Workpay

Seed Round in 2023
Workpay, established in 2017 and headquartered in Nairobi, Kenya, specializes in providing cloud-based payroll, benefits, and human resource management software tailored for small and medium-sized businesses in Africa. Its comprehensive solution includes time and attendance tracking, HR and payroll processing, employee self-service management, and payment processing, including support for mobile wallets. Workpay simplifies employee management and ensures compliance, enabling businesses to hire both local and remote teams across Africa without the need for local entities.

Kredibank

Seed Round in 2022
Kredi is a neo bank building Africa's one-stop shop for digital financial services. Kredi is a platform that eliminates all the challenges of using multiple applications and allows users to manage all aspects of their financial lives. We are fully licensed by the Central Bank of Nigeria. We provide access to digital financial services such as savings, credit, payment, investments, and insurance to all consumers in Nigeria in one place.

Jem

Seed Round in 2022
SmartWage Pty Ltd. is a financial technology company based in Johannesburg, South Africa, that provides innovative payday solutions aimed at enhancing financial wellness for employees. Founded in 2019, SmartWage offers services that allow employees to track their earnings and access their earned salaries on demand. The company also provides salary-packaging administration services to both employers and employees, making it one of the most affordable and accessible options in the South African market. Through its offerings, SmartWage seeks to improve the overall financial well-being of individuals by enabling timely access to earned wages.

Djamo

Venture Round in 2022
Djamo is a financial technology company that offers a financial application enabling customers to utilize their cards without incurring fees across a variety of services. The application provides free and limitless card options that function like standard debit cards, allowing users to set aside funds for savings, monitor their expenses, manage card payments, and exercise control over their withdrawals and overall financial management. Djamo's focus is on enhancing financial accessibility and convenience for its users.

Bitmama

Pre Seed Round in 2022
Bitmama is a cryptocurrency trading platform that facilitates the buying and selling of various digital assets, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Celo, primarily serving the African market. The company provides users with the ability to create personalized wallets and trade digital currencies through its exchange and API services. By integrating with bank accounts, credit or debit cards, and mobile money accounts, Bitmama offers a convenient and secure method for traders to manage their cryptocurrency transactions. Additionally, the platform's software is designed to ensure that users can navigate the trading process efficiently and securely within an encrypted network.

Zazuu

Seed Round in 2022
Zazuu is a fintech company that provides a platform for sending money across borders, specifically aimed at making remittances more equitable for Africans. The application enables users to search and compare various reputable money transfer providers, ensuring they find the best deals and save money on each transaction. Additionally, Zazuu allows customers to manage multiple currencies, enhancing the flexibility and convenience of cross-border money transfers.

Workpay

Seed Round in 2022
Workpay, established in 2017 and headquartered in Nairobi, Kenya, specializes in providing cloud-based payroll, benefits, and human resource management software tailored for small and medium-sized businesses in Africa. Its comprehensive solution includes time and attendance tracking, HR and payroll processing, employee self-service management, and payment processing, including support for mobile wallets. Workpay simplifies employee management and ensures compliance, enabling businesses to hire both local and remote teams across Africa without the need for local entities.

PayQin

Venture Round in 2022
PayQin Ltd., established in 2017 with headquarters in London, operates an e-wallet platform accessible via a mobile application. This app includes a virtual debit card for online payments, facilitating cross-border transactions for both individuals and businesses. The company aims to simplify international payments by offering low fees, real-time processing, and a user-friendly experience, allowing small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to focus on growth rather than payment complexities. PayQin has additional locations in France and Sweden.

Cauri Money

Pre Seed Round in 2022
Cauri Money is a financial services company that provides a range of digital solutions for managing and transferring funds. It offers users the ability to exchange, save, and send money through its platform, which includes features such as a wallet with a BG IBAN, peer-to-peer payments, virtual and physical Mastercards, and dedicated financial supervision. The service is accessible to anyone, regardless of their banking affiliation, making it convenient for users to handle daily expenditures and send money to Africa.

Happy Pay

Venture Round in 2022
Happy Pay is a company focused on developing a credit scoring system that offers consumers a responsible alternative to traditional credit options. It operates a Buy Now Pay Later platform that allows users to make purchases and pay for them over time. To enhance the shopping experience, Happy Pay integrates an autonomous artificial intelligence technology system with merchants' platforms, aiming to increase their average basket size and improve customer conversion rates. By leveraging this innovative technology, Happy Pay seeks to provide a seamless and efficient service that benefits both consumers and merchants.

Credrails

Seed Round in 2022
Credrails is a fintech company that specializes in providing infrastructure for open banking. It connects diverse financial data sources such as banks and mobile money services via a unified API, facilitating seamless money transfers and fostering interoperability within Africa's digital economy.

Elevate Pay

Pre Seed Round in 2022
Elevate Pay is a financial technology company that specializes in providing digital banking services and products. The company has developed a digital banking application that allows users to open bank accounts online and access fee-free accounts in both local currency and US dollars. Additionally, Elevate Pay offers free remittance services, enabling users to receive international transfers from various countries without incurring fees. The company also issues a free USD Mastercard, facilitating seamless transactions. Through these offerings, Elevate Pay aims to deliver regulated banking services that are innovative, fair, and accessible, ultimately enhancing the financial well-being of its consumers.

Maxicash

Venture Round in 2022
Maxicash is a developer of a payment and remittance application designed for diaspora members to support their loved ones back home financially. The company's application is a financial support ecosystem to cater to untapped markets, enabling users to send money, buy electronic vouchers, buy airtime vouchers, pay for schools and hospitals, and also donate money to churches and NGOs.

Ceviant

Venture Round in 2022
Ceviant Finance specializes in cloud-based treasury and payment automation solutions. The company provides a comprehensive platform designed to enhance cash and treasury management for businesses. Its offerings include services such as cash liquidity management, virtual accounts, receivables management, electronic invoicing, and working capital loans aimed at facilitating international trade. By enabling businesses to manage multiple bank accounts and centralize their payment processes, Ceviant Finance helps streamline financial operations and improve efficiency in cash forecasting and trade financing.

WayaMoney

Venture Round in 2022
WayaMoney is a digital banking platform that specializes in providing payment and money transfer solutions across Africa. The platform enables users to send and receive payments instantly and seamlessly, catering to both individuals and businesses. WayaMoney facilitates a range of services, including payments for utility bills, digital satellite television subscriptions, online purchases, and airline ticket bookings. By offering low-cost money transfers, WayaMoney addresses the needs of an increasingly unbanked population and supports small and medium-sized enterprises engaging in cross-border trade. The company's goal is to simplify payment processes and enhance financial inclusion throughout the continent.

Cauri Money

Venture Round in 2021
Cauri Money is a financial services company that provides a range of digital solutions for managing and transferring funds. It offers users the ability to exchange, save, and send money through its platform, which includes features such as a wallet with a BG IBAN, peer-to-peer payments, virtual and physical Mastercards, and dedicated financial supervision. The service is accessible to anyone, regardless of their banking affiliation, making it convenient for users to handle daily expenditures and send money to Africa.

Stax

Seed Round in 2021
Stax is all of your bank accounts, mobile wallets, crypto in a single app that works without mobile data.

Kalpay

Venture Round in 2021
Kalpay is a mobile application designed to facilitate secure and convenient digital payments for users, merchants, businesses, and financial institutions. The platform enables users to scan barcodes to pay for goods and services, transfer money, and settle bills through a secure electronic wallet. With its focus on enhancing payment efficiency, Kalpay provides financial institutions and businesses with digital solutions for managing online transactions, including options for deposits and withdrawals. This service aims to generate additional revenue streams while improving overall business administration for its clients.

Fingo Africa

Venture Round in 2021
Fingo Africa is a fintech startup focused on delivering digital banking services tailored for the youth. The company offers a range of services, including current accounts, money transfers, bill payments, and online utilities. Fingo's platform allows users to conduct real-time transactions and facilitates link-based payments, making it easier for individuals to send money to friends, family, or businesses. Additionally, Fingo provides features that support saving goals, enhancing the user experience and financial management for its target demographic.

Fingo Africa

Seed Round in 2021
Fingo Africa is a fintech startup focused on delivering digital banking services tailored for the youth. The company offers a range of services, including current accounts, money transfers, bill payments, and online utilities. Fingo's platform allows users to conduct real-time transactions and facilitates link-based payments, making it easier for individuals to send money to friends, family, or businesses. Additionally, Fingo provides features that support saving goals, enhancing the user experience and financial management for its target demographic.

Zazuu

Seed Round in 2021
Zazuu is a fintech company that provides a platform for sending money across borders, specifically aimed at making remittances more equitable for Africans. The application enables users to search and compare various reputable money transfer providers, ensuring they find the best deals and save money on each transaction. Additionally, Zazuu allows customers to manage multiple currencies, enhancing the flexibility and convenience of cross-border money transfers.

Julaya

Series A in 2021
Julaya is a fintech company that provides African businesses with a comprehensive digital platform for managing payments and financial transactions. The platform enables businesses to disburse mobile money transactions to employees and suppliers while also offering virtual and physical prepaid cards. Julaya's software facilitates various financial activities, including paying utility bills, reloading credit cards, and transferring money. Additionally, it supports cash collection for fast-moving consumer goods and retailers, and provides access to digital loans. By digitizing operations through its platform, Julaya empowers businesses to utilize new digital payment methods and streamline their financial processes.

Boya

Pre Seed Round in 2021
Boya develops a mobile application that allows users to add cards to their phones and pay directly from the application. They enable the user to create a virtual card that can be loaded with e-cash and helps to manage the expenses on a single dashboard.

Peach Payments

Venture Round in 2021
Peach Payments is a company that specializes in providing payment solutions for online and mobile businesses, facilitating the acceptance of payments from consumers worldwide, with a strong emphasis on emerging markets, particularly in Africa and the BRIC countries. The company has developed an online payment platform that offers a variety of electronic payment services. This platform features a well-documented API for easy integration, allows payment collection through email and SMS, and includes secure tokenization for storing card data. Additionally, it enhances user experience by enabling one-click checkouts, ensuring a safe and efficient transaction process across all digital channels.

Afriex

Seed Round in 2021
Afriex Inc. is a mobile payment application developer based in Oakland, California, specializing in overseas money transfer services. Founded in 2019, the company offers a digital wallet application that allows users to send and receive money globally, utilizing stablecoins to ensure fast and cost-effective remittance solutions. Afriex supports transactions to over 30 countries, enabling users to make payments and manage their finances more efficiently at current exchange rates, while also providing various withdrawal options to enhance the user experience.

FinAccess

Seed Round in 2021
FinAccess is a Nairobi-based company that specializes in developing a cloud-based software platform specifically designed for microfinance institutions (MFIs) and organizations. The platform offers a comprehensive suite of services, including personalized payment reminders, arrears follow-up campaigns, transaction notifications, and marketing messages. Additionally, it generates detailed reports, facilitates debit card issuance, and integrates with third-party mobile money providers. By providing end-to-end information technology services, FinAccess enables MFIs to enhance operational efficiency, reduce costs, and scale their services, particularly to underserved rural populations in growth markets.

Kaoun

Seed Round in 2021
Kaoun is a software platform focused on promoting financial inclusion by reforming financial systems through innovative solutions. The company provides access to essential financial services via electronic identification, payment, and credit-related offerings. By enabling users who have been unbanked or underbanked to create free bank accounts remotely, Kaoun facilitates access to online financial services, thereby fostering greater participation in the financial ecosystem.
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