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The Johannesburg-based AlphaCode, Rand Merchant Investment’s (RMI) club for fintech startup entrepreneurs, has clocked up over 1,000 members over the course of its first year.

AlphaCode is a collaborative hub for next generation financial services entrepreneurs that aims to provide a platform for members to engage and work alongside experienced entrepreneurs, technology investors and industry experts, resulting in accelerated growth and access to market.

Over the course of its first year, aside from clocking up over 1,000 members, AlphaCode has seen eight member-to-member deals and eight deals facilitated with RMI portfolio companies.

The top tier members are building innovative fintech solutions that cut across the spectrum of financial service disciplines – from lending, payments and financial literacy to blockchain, robo-advising and data analytics. Many operate as successful financial technology businesses, while others are using the networking, sharing and mentoring offered at AlphaCode to launch.

“The Rand Merchant Group has a history of partnering extraordinary entrepreneurs who have built disruptive, successful businesses such as RMB, Discovery and OUTsurance. To accelerate the kind of financial innovation that we envisaged we knew we needed two things,” said RMI senior investment executive Dominique Collett.

“Firstly, to get the right people into the right room at the right time and secondly to apply growth capital to the best fintech ideas. AlphaCode has brought us in touch with South Africa’s most promising fintech entrepreneurs. Our members have won South African and international awards, they have bravely launched new products and forged new partnerships.”

AlphaCode members in include Bankymoon, which has started consulting for the South African Reserve Bank on blockchain technology, iKhokha, which has partnered Mastercard to roll out 700 innovative new point of sale devices, and Peach Payments, which provides payment solutions to online and mobile businesses.

“AlphaCode aims to be the epicentre of the fintech ecosystem in South Africa and Africa and we are keen to learn from other emerging markets,” said Collett.

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