Chpter, a platform that empowers businesses to sell more on social platforms like WhatsApp and Instagram by automating conversations, marketing and payments all in one place, is one of the nine startups that will benefit from Safaricom’s accelerator named the Spark Accelerator Program.
Chpter, founded by Marketforce co-founder Tesh Mbabu, will be joined by other early-stage startups, including two under the Embedded Finance category: Chumz, which is leveraging mobile money, gamification, and behavioural psychology to build a community of savers, and Nobuk, which is streamlining payment collection and reconciliation for African groups and collectives, simplifying financial reporting.
Other startups were shortlisted under the SME Productivity Tools category. These include Faidi HR, a one-in-all Cloud Payroll and HR Platform for Businesses, Churpy which seeks to automate repetitive and manual tasks in the office of the “CFO”, and Twiva, a social-commerce platform that helps brands to effectively gain access to markets by leveraging social media influencers to market their goods and services.
HealthX Africa, a data-driven, primary health care provider offering hybrid digital and physical touch points, with the goal of providing a doctor for every Kenyan, and BlackRhino VR, which is enabling creators and brands alike to tell immersive and interactive stories that are appealing to contemporary audiences, were shortlisted under the content category.
VunaPay, a platform for Agricultural Cooperatives that facilitates instant payment to smallholder farmers for produce delivered to the cooperatives, was shortlisted under the Future Fintech category.
Safaricom launched the accelerator a year ago in partnership with M-PESA Africa and Sumitomo Corporation.
“Leveraging technology to drive meaningful innovation is a strong premise under which the Spark Accelerator program was founded. By supporting and investing in these tech-enabled startups, we aim to drive significant societal change and economic growth. We are excited to work with visionary founders who represent the promise of tomorrow and to see the impact they will create in their respective sectors,” said Peter Ndegwa, CEO, Safaricom.
