A Kenyan startup has made it to the finals in an international competition for newly established businesses, where the winner will take home Ksh11,040,000 prize money.
KOA Mobile App, which offers saving services and friendly interest rates, is the only Kenya fintech startup that is part of the five finalists for the Startup Battlefield challenge 2021, organized by TechCrunch.
The organizer, TechCrunch is an American online newspaper that focuses on high-tech and startup companies, with aim of helping them get partnerships with top investors the world over.
KOA’s main product is mobile savings for millennials and is Africa’s only representative in the competition.
The competition initially started with 20 companies across the globe. Each had six minutes of pitching and answering questions from a panel of judges, which comprised of editors from TechCrunch, top entrepreneurs and past winners.
“They had six minutes to present their pitch decks and answered six minutes of questions from noted investors and executives,” Techcrunch pointed out.
Besides getting the attention of media and top investors from across the world, the winner from the competition will take home Ksh 11,040,000 ($100,000) together with the Startup Battlefield cup.
KOA joins other finalists who include Nth Cycle, an American startup that recycles waste products using an electro-extraction system into valuable minerals, with cobalt being one of them.
Cellino is a biotech startup from Cambridge that uses Artificial Intelligence to help cell therapy like cell regeneration.
KOA was started last year by Delila Kidanu, who partnered with Alexis Roman and Bubunyo Nyavor.
It has had tremendous growth in the Kenyan market after its launch.
Recently they partnered with one of the biggest insurance companies in the Kenyan market to help in financial savings.
KOA looks into becoming a full-fledged digital financial institution that offers services like lending, among others, soon.
