Top 10 Financial Technology Startups in South Africa

South Africa has a flourishing FinTech industry supported by multiple players across competencies. South African entrepreneurs with their fintech startups aim to promote financial inclusion, provide basic financial services to the unbanked segment and make payments and the money transfer process simpler and affordable.

In this article, we explore the Top 10 FinTech Startups in South Africa.

1. JUMO

Founders: Andrew Watkins-Ball

Founding Year: 2014

Headquarters: Cape Town, South Africa

Funding received: US$ 146.7M

Investors: Goldman Sachs, Anthemis Group, Google Launchpad Accelerator, VEF, LeapFrog Investments, PROPARCO, The MasterCard Foundation, Finnfund (Finnish Fund for Industrial Cooperation Ltd.), Odey Asset Management, Gemcorp

JUMO offers a full technology stack for building and operating financial services. The startup leverages cutting-edge data science and machine learning technologies to develop the fastest and leanest financial services infrastructure. Its clients use its tech stack to offer savings, lending and insurance products to entrepreneurs in evolving markets. Jumo’s tech stack comprises three layers: 

• Advanced data engine: It runs machine learning algorithms on millions of mobile wallet, cell phone, and transaction data signals every second. It helps in creating accurate credit profiles for people in emerging markets.
• End-to-end banking technology: This wide-ranging banking system acts on the decisions taken by the data engine. It enables JUMO to concentrate on the core of financial products and services, eliminating legacy limitations, complexity and lack of clarity.
• Flexible operating platform: This is the place where JUMO’S clients can access its tech stack. It consists of all the tools, reporting and proficiencies a modern bank needs to run. 

2. GetBucks

Founders: Louwrens Van Schalkwyk, Sarel Esterhuizen

Founding Year: 2010

Headquarters: Gauteng, South Africa

Funding received: US$ 25M

Investors: TLG Capital, Brainworks Capital Management

GetBucks is a fintech startup that provides personalized loans to people with an easy online application. Its vision is to become the chief provider of financial services by utilizing state-of-the-art technology to deliver ground-breaking and affordable solutions to a broad customer base in South Africa and other parts of Africa. 

It believes in financial inclusion, and its goal is to empower its user base with sustainable financial solutions that improve lives.

3. Yoco

Founders: Bradley Wattrus, Carl Wazen, Katlego Maphai and Lungisa Matshoba

Founding Year: 2013

Headquarters: Cape Town, South Africa

Funding received: US$ 23M

Investors: Partech, FMO, Quona Capital, Greyhound Capital, Orange Ventures, CRE Venture Capital, Velocity Capital Fintech Ventures, Globivest, Futuregrowth Asset Management, Robby Hilkowitz, Geoffrey D Fink, Wissam Otaky, Jean-Pierre Mondalek, Nicholas Cooper, Kai-Uwe Ricke

Driven by the mission to help small businesses thrive, Yoco builds tools and services to help them get paid and operate their business better. Its digital payments network, comprising point-of-sale card machines, enables enterprises to get online payments and credit, and currently caters to over 120K small businesses in South Africa.

4. Zoona

Founders: Brad Magrath, Brett Magrath, Mike Quinn

Founding Year: 2009

Headquarters: Cape Town, South Africa

Funding received: US$ 22.9M

Investors: Omidyar Network, International Finance Corporation, Quona Capital, The MasterCard Foundation, AHL Venture Partners, 4Di Capital, Accion, Patrick Pichette, RippleWorks, Mennonite Economic Development Associates

Zoona is a financial technology company building products such as money transfers, electronic voucher payments, and agent payments to help the disadvantaged groups present in Africa. It supports emerging entrepreneurs in providing essential financial services. It builds a cross-country distribution network of Zoona Agents to convert an electronic value to cash and vice versa, in suitable, high-traffic areas such as bus stations, markets and shopping centres. Its platform can be accessed on the simplest mobile devices, enabling Zoona agents and cashiers to set up a franchise business-in-a-box to efficiently serve their communities. 

5. Planet42

Founders: Eerik Oja, Marten Orgna

Founding Year: 2017

Headquarters: Gauteng, South Africa

Funding received: US$ 20.2M

Investors: Startup Wise Guys, Change Ventures, Ragnar Sass, Martin Villig, Lendable, Kristjan Vilosius, Marko Virkebau

Planet42 buys used cars from a network of automobile dealers which it then rents out to its customers, mainly the ones who are unable to procure vehicle loans from banks. Customers pay a monthly fee to Planet42 and can buy the car at any time for the selling price, which decreases every month. The startup leverages technology to alleviate risk and promote financial inclusion.

6. Inclusivity Solutions

Founders: Jeremy Leach

Founding Year: 2015

Headquarters: Cape Town, South Africa

Funding received: US$ 5.8M

Investors: Goodwell Investments, RGAx, Allan Gray, Umkhathi Wethu Ventures, MFS Africa

Inclusivity Solutions offers insurance solutions that cater to the needs of evolving consumers. It leverages digital channels’ omnipresence, such as mobile phones, to reach the maximum number of people. It provides the strategy, product and process design, execution support and platforms to introduce and develop digital insurance solutions and build sustainable, comprehensive insurance markets.

7. Nomanini

Founders: Vahid Monadjem

Founding Year: 2011

Headquarters: Cape Town, South Africa

Funding received: US$ 5.5M

Investors: Goodwell Investments, Standard Bank, Industrial Development Corporation, eVentures Africa Fund

Nomanini has developed a SaaS platform to provide digital financial services to the informal retail trade. It connects the diverse ecosystem around informal retailers such as service providers, consumer wallets, distributors and manufacturers through an interoperable merchant wallet. 

8. VALR

Founders: Badi Sudhakaran, Farzam Ehsani, Theo Bohnen

Founding Year: 2018

Headquarters: Johannesburg, South Africa

Funding received: US$ 4.9M

Investors: 10x Group, 4Di Capital, Montegray Capital, Michael Jordaan, Bittrex Support

VALR offers a digital asset trading platform where people can buy, sell, store and transfer cryptocurrencies effortlessly and securely. It has one of the broadest selections of digital assets. It aspires to build a financial system that recognizes the coherence of humanity.

9. Pineapple

Founders: Marnus van Heerden, Matthew Elan Smith, Ndabenhle Junior Ngulube

Founding Year: 2017

Headquarters: Johannesburg, South Africa

Funding received: US$ 3.6M

Investors: Connecticut Innovations, VentureClash, Travelers Insurance, Lireas Holdings

Pineapple was founded to reinvent the way insurance is done. Its platform has the following features:

• 1) Altering the business model to align incentives, showing people how bonuses are used and give back members their leftover bonus.
• 2) Making insuring as simple as snapping a picture where artificial intelligence does the rest and cover is issued in under 60 seconds. 
• 3) Allowing per-item insurance and new product innovation to address cover, something not currently being offered to many people.

10. InvestSure

Founders: Ignatious Nkwinika, Mbulelo Mpofana, Shane Curran

Founding Year: 2017

Headquarters: Johannesburg, South Africa

Funding received: US$ 761.5K

Investors: 4Di Capital, Lireas Holdings, Compass Insurance, Bank of America Merrill Lynch

InvestSure is a technology company that provides APIs to enable partner investment platforms to sell its Investment Insurance product to their clients. Once its solution is added to a trading platform, users can buy insurance on their shares with a single click. The entire process, from purchasing to insurance to settling claims is entirely automated.

Another product named Investment Indemnity is also a unique innovation; it is designed to safeguard shareholders against any losses in share value caused by management’s actual or apparent fraud. It empowers investors to secure their investments. The product’s price is low enough not significantly to reduce returns of investors where no insurance event occurs, but to provide important downside protection when an insured event does occur.

We try our best to fact check and bring the best, well-researched and non-plagiarized content to you. Please let us know

-if there are any discrepancies in any of our published stories,
-how we can improve,
-what stories you would like us to cover and what information you are looking for, in the comments section below or through our contact form! We look forward to your feedback and thank you for stopping by!

Next Story