Visa has announced the startups shortlisted from across Africa to participate in the second cohort of its Africa Fintech Accelerator program. This 12-week program offers 1:1 mentorship and personalized training, providing seed to Series A startups with exclusive opportunities to access funding, development, and resources. The program reflects Visa’s commitment to fostering innovation and supporting the digital economy across the continent.
Cohort 2 startups operate across 28 African countries, a significant increase from Cohort 1, which had representatives from 18 countries. Notably, 65% of these startups feature female leadership, rising from 43% in the inaugural edition. This underscores Visa’s dedication to promoting diversity and empowering women in the fintech space.
The selected startups offer a wide range of solutions, including neo-banking, merchant payments, credit scoring, risk and identity management, embedded finance, social commerce, and escrow services. Their innovative approaches aim to address key challenges and opportunities in the African fintech landscape, such as financial inclusion, access to credit, cross-border payments, and digital transformation.
Aida Diarra, Vice President and Head of Sub-Saharan Africa at Visa, highlighted the program’s impact: “At Visa, we believe in uplifting innovation while driving access and inclusion across the financial ecosystem. Our second cohort of Accelerator participants represents more than 50% of countries across Africa, up from a third during our first cohort. Women are in leadership roles across the majority of these cutting-edge startups. We have a robust, diverse selection of innovators seeking to shape the future of commerce and finance – and Visa is happy to help them take the next step to where they need to be.”
The 12-week virtual Visa Fintech Accelerator program will conclude with an in-person Demo Day, where startups will pitch their innovations to key ecosystem players, funding partners, angel investors, and venture capitalists. This event will enable the startups to unlock their full potential and take significant steps towards their growth and success.
Building on the success of the first cohort, which graduated in February 2024 with positive outcomes such as increased user growth, product enhancements, and strategic partnerships, this second cohort is poised to make a substantial impact. The Sub-Saharan Africa startups shortlisted for this cohort include Chapa (Ethiopia), CheckUps Medical Hub (Kenya), AzamPay (Tanzania), Beem (Tanzania), Bizao (Ivory Coast), Hub2 (Ivory Coast), Iwomi Technologies (Cameroon), Proboutik (Cameroon), Vaultpay (Democratic Republic of Congo), Aku (Nigeria), Cleva (Nigeria), Curacel (Nigeria), E-doc Online (Nigeria), Raenest (Nigeria), Bridgecard (Nigeria), and Truzo (South Africa).
