NAIROBI, Kenya, Nov 8 – Safaricom, through M-Pesa Africa, has partnered with Sumitomo Corporation to support startups.
The Spark Accelerator program will help early-stage startups grow and scale up.
Together, they will identify top-growing companies and then provide mentorships as well as funding and market support.
“Anchored around our purpose of transforming lives and in line with our ambition to be a purpose led Technology Company, our goal is simple yet powerful, to empower startups with the access they need to succeed,” Safaricom CEO Peter Ndegwa said.
“We are taking an ecosystem-based approach to provide a platform for bold and visionary founders to grow and scale their businesses,” he added.
According to the partners, entrepreneurs in Kenya face major challenges, with a 30 percent lifetime survival rate for startups.
The key hindrances, they observe, are the inability to secure funding for growth, limited access to markets, and a gap in knowledge and skills required to scale a business.
“We are keen to see startups grow and we are happy to open our technology to facilitate this growth,” M-Pesa Africa Managing Director Sitoyo Lopokoiyit stated.
“M-PESA is a massive ecosystem with over sixty million customers and three million businesses across Africa, and we trust this acceleration program will enable startups to create value within this ecosystem.”
The Safaricom board and shareholders approved the restructure of the Spark Fund in July this year.
The initiative will seek to provide shortlisted startups with access to markets, access to capital, and access to technology and product development support.
Previously, Spark Fund only offered capital injections.
