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Zambian asset financing startup Rent to Own has completed a seed round of US$1.05 million to scale across the country and into other markets.

Rent to Own provides high-impact assets to small scale-entrepreneurs and smallholder farmers in rural Zambia, offering an “all-in-one” package of uncollateralised financing, delivery, installation, and equipment training.

So far, the startup has delivered over 7,000 productive use assets and achieved a repayment rate of 96 per cent. The company reached its first operationally break-even months in the last two quarters of 2018, and is ready to scale in Zambia and beyond with this new funding.

The cash has come from existing shareholder AHL Venture Partners, which significantly increased its investment, as well as Small Foundation and Jordan Engineering. A Series A investment round is on the horizon for the first half of next year.

“The closing of this Seed Round marks a milestone for Rent to Own in its journey to one million customers. We are excited to have the backing of strong investors like AHL, Small Foundation, and Jordan Engineering, and the continued support of Shell Foundation and others,” said chief executive officer (CEO) Jeffrey Scheidegger.

“Access to the right equipment is a real solution to unlocking the great potential of entrepreneurs in rural, underserved markets, we’re excited to work with our customers, agents, investors and suppliers to reach one million customers.”

The post Zambian asset financing startup Rent to Own raises $1.05m funding appeared first on Disrupt Africa.

from Disrupt Africa http://bit.ly/2PTI3B2

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Eight more Africa-based entrepreneurs have been chosen to join the global Endeavor network, which will see them gain access to mentorship and acceleration.

Endeavor, which launched in Nigeria and Kenya this year, and has accepted a host of African entrepreneurs into its network, works to catalyse long-term economic growth by selecting, mentoring, and accelerating the best high-impact entrepreneurs worldwide.

The organisation supports entrepreneurs that have passed through the initial startup phase and demonstrate the potential for rapid expansion and scale. At its 84th International Selection Panel (ISP), held in Stellenbosch, South Africa, on December 11-13, Endeavor selected 25 high-impact entrepreneurs leading 18 companies from 15 markets, to take its global network to 1,793 entrepreneurs.

They included Jay Alabraba and Tayo Oviosu of Nigerian fintech startup Paga, and Trent Rossini and Mike Renzon of South African software company inQuba.

Also selected were Joshua Sandler of Kenyan logistics startup Lori Systems, Ned Tozun of solar firm d.light, and two Tunisian entrepreneurs – Nadhem Boudoukhane of food manufacturer Carthage and Karim Beguir of AI company InstaDeep.

“The South Africa ISP truly demonstrated the power, passion and commitment of Endeavor’s global network,” said Endeavor chief executive officer (CEO) Linda Rottenberg. “Thank you to all who lent their time and expertise in 2018 to helping Endeavor identify and select high-impact entrepreneurs, and congratulations to all those selected.”

The post Another 8 Africa-based entrepreneurs join global Endeavor Network appeared first on Disrupt Africa.

from Disrupt Africa http://bit.ly/2ScRbCY

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Kenyan startup MPost, which has developed patented technology that enables users to transform their phone into a unique mobile postal address and mobile postal box, is quickly expanding after securing 40,000 customers in its home market.

Across Africa, there are 440 million unaddressed people, while the global figure is four billion. Founded in 2015 by Abdulaziz Omar and Twahir Ahmed, MPost is bidding to address this problem.

The startup’s platform enables the conversion of mobile numbers into official virtual addresses, which allows notifications to be sent to clients whenever they get mail through their postal addresses.

All potential clients have to do is register by dialling a USSD code or through the MPost mobile and web app, after which the system guides them through an identification process. A US$3 registration fee is paid, with the user obtaining their own virtual postal address. Now, when they receive mail at their chosen post office, the post office generates a unique QR-coded stamp and sends an SMS notification to the user, who can pick up their mail or have it couriered to their location at an additional cost.

Simple, but incredibly effective. MPost, which has been primarily self-funded but obtained some angel investment last year, has already obtained 40,000 users thanks to a partnership with the Postal Corporation of Kenya. Over 22,000 mails and parcels have already been received through the platform, and the startup has already expanded to Uganda ahead of further launches in Rwanda, Botswana, Tanzania, South Africa.

“Uptake to date has been phenomenal, taking into consideration the fact all registrations to date have been with zero marketing budget,” Omar told Disrupt Africa. “MPost has a retention rate of over 85 per cent to date.”

The startup recently took part in the Startupbootcamp AfriTech accelerator programme in Cape Town, during which Omar said they learnt a lot on strategic planning and execution.

“We were introduced to numerous VCs to whom we pitched MPost, and talks are at an advanced stage with some of the VCs we met,” he said. “We also got to sign partnerships with Amazon Web Services (AWS) for in-kind service provision.”

The post Kenya’s MPost turns your mobile number into a postal address appeared first on Disrupt Africa.

from Disrupt Africa http://bit.ly/2UX1i0B