START-UP ECOSYSTEM ACCELERATOR INNOVATION FUND - GSMA

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START-UP ECOSYSTEM ACCELERATOR INNOVATION FUND - GSMA
ECOSYSTEM ACCELERATOR
INNOVATION FUND

START-UP
PORTFOLIO
START-UP ECOSYSTEM ACCELERATOR INNOVATION FUND - GSMA
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About the GSMA                                  Ecosystem Accelerator                                The Ecosystem Accelerator programme
                                                                                                     is supported by the UK Department for
The GSMA represents the interests of mobile     The GSMA Ecosystem Accelerator programme             International Development (DFID), the
operators worldwide, uniting more than 750      focuses on bridging the gap between mobile           Australian Government, the GSMA and
operators with over 350 companies in the        operators and start-ups, enabling strong             its members. The views expressed in this
broader mobile ecosystem, including handset     partnerships that foster the growth of               document are not necessarily those of DFID or
and device makers, software companies,          innovative mobile products and services. These       the Australian Government.
equipment providers and internet companies,     partnerships bring impactful mobile solutions
as well as organisations in adjacent industry   to the people and places that need them
sectors. The GSMA also produces the             most, generating the greatest socio-economic
industry-leading MWC events held annually       impact. In particular, the programme operates
in Barcelona, Los Angeles and Shanghai,
as well as the Mobile 360 Series of regional
                                                an Innovation Fund which supports start-ups
                                                from Africa and Asia-Pacific with direct grant                                                                   “Bringing impactful
conferences.                                    funding, technical assistance, and connections

For more information, please visit the GSMA
                                                with mobile operators.
                                                                                                                                                                 mobile solutions to
                                                                                                                                                                 the people and places
corporate website at www.gsma.com.              Learn more at:
                                                www.gsma.com/ecosystemaccelerator
Follow the GSMA on Twitter: @GSMA.              or contact us at: accelerator@gsma.com

                                                Follow GSMA Mobile for Development on                                                                            that need them most”
                                                Twitter: @GSMAm4d
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THE GSMA ECOSYSTEM ACCELERATOR INNOVATION FUND                                                        THE OBJECTIVES OF THE FUND ARE TO

                         Start-ups          The Ecosystem Accelerator
                                            programme is supported by the                                      Establish partnerships       Test business                  Provide lessons and
                                            UK Department for International                                    between operators            models with                    examples for stakeholders
                                            Development (DFID), the
                                            Australian Government, the GSMA
                                            and its members.
                                                                                                           1   and start-ups in order
                                                                                                               to increase the reach
                                                                                                               of innovative mobile
                                                                                                                                        2   the greatest
                                                                                                                                            potential for       3          within the ecosystem,
                                                                                                                                                                           on the ways in which
                                                                                                                                                                           mobile is driving positive
                                                                                                                                            growth
                                                                                                               services                                                    socioeconomic change
                   Ecosystem                It provides selected start-ups in Africa and
                   Accelerator              Asia Pacific with grant funding, technical
      Mobile                                assistance, and the opportunity to partner
     Operators                              with mobile operators in their markets to
                                            help scale their products and services into
                                                                                                               This catalogue presents the Fund’s portfolio of start-ups across Africa
                                            sustainable businesses.                                                    and Asia Pacific, for its first, second, and third rounds.
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IMPACT TO DATE

            34                     6.3M                                   £188M                                                           25                          13                             £13.3M
     start-ups in 23 countries    beneficiaries have been                 in additional funding has                                  start-ups now have       of the 17 UN Sustainable               of income has been unlocked
        have been allocated      impacted by the portfolio               been raised by the portfolio                              partnerships with mobile    Development Goals are                   through their services, for
      £6.3m of grant funding             start-ups.                         start-ups, mostly from                                    network operators.      addressed collectively by              low-income populations and
        by the programme.                                                   commercial investors.                                                                   the portfolio.                           local MSMEs.
START-UP ECOSYSTEM ACCELERATOR INNOVATION FUND - GSMA
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PORTFOLIO START-UPS’ COLLABORATION WITH MOBILE OPERATORS
                       In Kenya, Twiga Foods uses M-Pesa, Safaricom’s mobile money                                         In Ghana, agritech start-up Agrocenta is using a mobile money API
                       service to manage and streamline payment processes for vendors                                      integration partnership with MTN and Vodafone to pay smallholder
                       and farmers. By integrating mobile payments across its supply chain                                 farmers directly and seamlessly via mobile money through its AgroPay
                       platform, Twiga Foods enables the majority of farmers to receive their                              platform. Both mobile operators are supporting AgroCenta farmers
                       payments through mobile money and information is recorded in real                                   with financial literacy training on the ground. Vodafone Ghana allows
                       time in the field to enable timely settlement of payments.                                          smallholder farmers on its platform to access free voice calls between
                                                                                                                           farmers and discounted mobile devices and bundles.

                       In Pakistan, telemedicine start-up Sehat Kahani is integrated with
                       Jazz’s mobile money service JazzCash. This allows patients to pay for                               In Indonesia, Telkomsel and eFishery are co-innovating and have
                       various Sehat Kahani services using JazzCash on the app, including                                  created a joint offering through the Telkomsel Innovation Center
                       a consultation with a Sehat Kahani doctor. Jazz also provides Sehat                                 (TINC) and have developed Narrowband IoT (NBIoT) devices for the
                       Kahani with subsidised data rates for e-Hubs across Pakistan.                                       aquaculture sector. Each Smart Feeder needs to have a SIM card and
                                                                                                                           internet access to perform its full functions. Compared to a standard
                                                                                                                           mobile SIM card, an NB-IoT SIM card enables the feeder to connect
                       In Côte d’Ivoire, MTN and recycling start-up Coliba are co-innovating                               to the internet with minimal data costs, making the feeder more
                       and co-incubating through MTN’s Y’ello Startup, an incubator                                        affordable, especially for those with multiple devices.
                       programme that supports early-stage local tech entrepreneurs. In
                       addition to this initial support, Coliba and MTN are co-branding and
                       cross-selling through a commercial partnership. Households that                                     In Samoa, SkyEye is using a mobile money API integration
                       recycle plastic bottles through Coliba’s mobile app are granted MTN                                 partnership with Digicell and BlueSky’s M-Tala on the SkyEye MAUA
                       data credits, allowing them to access the internet on their mobile                                  app. This enables customers to use their mobile wallet to make and
                       phones. Coliba is able to pay and communicate its recycling collectors                              accept payments.
                       using MTN’s open SMS and mobile money APIs.
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ECOSYSTEM ACCELERATOR                                                                                                                                                                                                                            Round 1
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 Round 2

INNOVATION FUND
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 Round 3

PORTFOLIO
                                                                                                                                    Pakistan

                                                                                                                                                    Nepal
                                                                                      Egypt
                                                                                                                                                            Bangladesh
                                                                                                                                                                     Myanmar

                        Senegal
                                                                                                   Ethiopia                                                                    Cambodia
                                                  Benin   Nigeria
                                             Ghana
                                   Côte
                                                                                                                                               Sri Lanka
                                  D’ivoire
                                                               Cameroon

                                                                                          Uganda
                                                                                                   Kenya
                                                                                          Rwanda                                                                          Indonesia

                                                                                                                                                                                          Papua New
                                                                                              Tanzania                                                                                      Guinea

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             Samoa

                                                                                 Zambia

                                                                                               Mozambique

                                                                                                              East Africa
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MEET THE PORTFOLIO START-UPS’ 34 CEOS

eSewa         Ruangguru       eFishery          Field Buzz                Joonaak                      Karzo                        Raye7              SafeMotos         Twiga Foods        Ensibuuko               Farmcrowdy                   Jamii
Asgar Ali     Adamas Belva    Gibran Huzaifah   Alexis Rawlinson          Soliya Kong                  Alex Wicks                   Samira Negm        Barett Nash       Peter Njonjo       Gerald Otim             Onyeka Akumah                Rayah Ndagire
              Syah Devara

Neh Thit      Sehat Kahani    Greenovator       oDoc                      Pacific Ads Group            Qlue                         LipaMobile         Lynk              MaTontine          Musanga                 SudPay                       AgroCenta
Conor Smith   Dr Sara Saeed   Yin Yin Phyu      Heshan Fernando           Fredrik Orrenius             Raditya Maulana              Laban Jemba        Adam Grunewald    Bernie Akporiaye   Njavwa Mutambo          Samba Sow                    Francis Obirikorang
              Khurram                                                                                  Rusdi

              SkyEye          Biscate           Kytabu                    Optimetriks                  PrepClass                    Coliba             Eneza Education   GiftedMom          Kea Medicals            Taskmoby
              Sam Saili       Frederico P       Paul Mugambi              Paul Langlois-               Chukwuwezam                  Genesis Ehimegbe   Wambura Kimunyu   Alain Nteff        Vèna Arielle            Ezana Raswork
                              Silva                                       Meurinne                     Obanor                                                                               Ahouansou
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                                                            0186D5
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ASIA PACIFIC START-UPS                                                                             ESEWA
                                                                                                   Mobile payment service         The problem                                            Mobile operator collaboration
                                                                                                                                  In Nepal, only 34 per cent of all adults have          “Nepal Telecom believes that eSewa is a pioneer
                                                                                                   allowing users to make         an account at a financial institution, and this        and is playing a key role in digitizing mobile
                                                                                                   online payments, pay utility   number is even lower for women (31 per cent)           recharge and overall utility of the mobile phones
                                                                                                   bills, receive money or set    and lower income individuals (24 per cent).            in Nepal. For Nepal Telecom, eSewa is the ideal

ROUND 1                                                                                            up merchant accounts           Financial inclusion is key to reducing poverty
                                                                                                                                  and boosting prosperity. Without it, many
                                                                                                                                  societies are held back.
                                                                                                                                                                                         partner that has been fulfilling our needs by
                                                                                                                                                                                         deploying an efficient and productive sales force
                                                                                                                                                                                         force, creating new network and opportunities,
                                                                                                                                                                                         responding to the market instantly and using the
                                                                                                                                  The start-up                                           modern digital technology and digital channel to
                                                                                                                                  The eSewa mobile payment solution can be               serve our customers in better ways.”
                                                                                                                                  accessed either through a mobile app or over the                                     — Dilli Ram Adhikari,

ROUND 2                                                                                                                           counter through one of 25,000 agents across the
                                                                                                                                  country. Users can buy mobile airtime (from Nepal
                                                                                                                                                                                                        MD Office Manager, Nepal Telecom

                                                                                                                                  Telecom and Ncell Axiata), pay bills, deposit funds    eSewa has also partnered with mobile network
                                                                                                                                  in their bank account or perform cash-in/cash-outs     service provider Smart Cell to distribute simcards
                                                                                                                                  from their eSewa account. The mobile app can           through their agent network.
                                                                                                                                  also be used to buy bus tickets, pay for school fees

ROUND 3                  0186D5                                                                           Founders
                                                                                                                                  or book trips abroad.

                                                                                                                                  The project
                                                                                                                                                                                         Impact to date
                                                                                                                                                                                         As of January 2020, eSewa serves over 796,000
                                                                                                                                                                                         active customers across Nepal and its Android
                                                                                                          Asgar Ali (CEO)         eSewa received a grant from the GSMA Ecosystem         mobile app has been downloaded over 1.6 million
                                                                                                          Biswas Dhakal           Accelerator Innovation Fund in April 2017 to           times. Across the country eSewa has over 75,400
                                                                                                          Subash Sharma           improve the usability of its agent mobile app and      agents.
                                                                                                                                  expand its services and operations in eastern
                                                                                                          Country                 Nepal.
                                                                                                          Nepal
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RUANGGURU                                                                                                                                              EFISHERY
Digital marketplace for                The problem                                           Mobile operator collaboration                             IoT-based smart fish feeding   The problem                                           The project
                                       With over 50 million students and four million        “Ruangguru has over 10 million registered users                                          Aquaculture is expected to provide close to           eFishery received a grant from the GSMA
private tutors offering                teachers, Indonesia has the fourth largest            and Loop — Telkomsel’s youth brand — sees this
                                                                                                                                                       machines for commercial        two-thirds of global food fish consumption by         Ecosystem Accelerator Innovation Fund in
educational classes                    educational system in the world, but also one         as an opportunity to bundle Ruangguru’s product           aquaculture                    2030, according to the FAO. With an annual            February 2018 to extend its value proposition
                                       of the lowest performing. It has been claimed         on our platform. Users gain access to 2GB of free                                        aquaculture production of more than five million      to fish farmers by adding more features to the
                                       that over 50 per cent of Indonesia’s teachers are     data when surfing Ruangguru’s bundled content.                                           tonnes, Indonesia is the third largest producer       service and conducting a pilot project on Narrow
                                       insufficiently qualified.                             Ruangguru has a similar target market to ours                                            in the world behind China and India. However,         Band IoT (NB-IoT) with a mobile operator partner.
                                                                                             (junior high and senior high students) thus we                                           inefficiencies and lack of skills and data are
                                       The start-up                                          can leverage the start-up’s brand awareness and                                          forcing Indonesia’s 3.34 million fish and shrimp      Mobile operator collaboration
                                       Ruangguru is a freemium learning management           customer reach.”                                                                         farmers to cope with very high feeding costs          “eFishery Smart Feeder brings a new business
                                       system that helps students prepare for exams               — Nastiti Yuniansari, Segmented Community                                           (60 to 90 per cent of total production costs).        model and opportunity for Telkomsel. The
                                       using content tailored to the national curriculum,                  Product Marketing, Loop, Telkomsel                                                                                               solution will have a positive impact on Indonesia’s
                                       and helps teachers to crowdsource educational                                                                                                  The start-up                                          aquaculture industry and inspire other developers
                                       content and distribute it to students. It improves    Impact to date                                                                           eFishery offers an IoT-based smart fish feeding       and start-ups to work on IoT solutions to solve
                                       the learning experiences of students while also       As of October 2018, Ruangguru has reached over                                           machine for commercial aquaculture. The feeder        Indonesia’s challenges.”
                                       improving access to resources for teachers. Access    10 million students registered on its platform.                                          uses sensors to deduce the relative hunger of the      — Amelia Kemalasari, General Manager Business
                                       to the service is now also being offered through a                                                                                             fish and then feeds them the optimal amount.                                     Development, Telkomsel
                                       joint package with the mobile operator Telkomsel’s                                                                                             The sensor collects and sends data (such as feed
                                       youth brand, Loop.                                                                                                                             volumes, feed consumed and transactional data)        Impact to date
                                                                                                                                                                                      to the cloud where the data is aggregated, stored     As of January 2020, eFishery has worked with
      Founders                         The project                                                                                                           Founders                 and analysed. The proprietary software also allows    more than 23,000 fish and shrimp ponds across
      Adamas Belva Syah Devara (CEO)   Ruangguru received a grant from the GSMA                                                                              Gibran Huzaifah (CEO)    fish farmers to manage feeding in real time from      Indonesia. On average, fish farmers using the
      Muhamad Iman Usman               Ecosystem Accelerator Innovation Fund in April                                                                        Chrisna Aditya           their phones and control the system remotely, if      eFishery solution have increased profits by over
                                       2017 to launch an online marketplace where                                                                                                     necessary.                                            20 per cent.
                                       teachers and tutors generate content and students
      Country                          access content for free or request personal                                                                           Country
      Indonesia                        assistance for a fee.                                                                                                 Indonesia
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FIELD BUZZ                                                                                                                                           JOONAAK
Mobile software to manage      The problem                                                 version of their last-mile distribution solution for      Delivery service providing      The problem                                             Mobile operator collaboration
                               According to a BCG study, in Bangladesh                     SMEs with dispersed sales and delivery agents in                                          Despite a real opportunity for small                    “As Cambodia’s leading mobile operator, our goal
last-mile distribution and     traditional retail outlets, or mudir dokan, are             rural areas of Bangladesh.
                                                                                                                                                     logistics for micro and small   entrepreneurs in Cambodia to embrace                    of providing our subscribers with more innovative
operations efficiently         ubiquitous, with over 90 per cent of the middle                                                                       e-commerce businesses           e-commerce, the country ranked only 119 out             products and lifestyle solutions makes partnering
                               class buying groceries from them regularly. These           Impact to date                                                                            of 137 in the 2016 UNCTAD B2C E-commerce                with a ‘last mile’ delivery service provider like
                               networks of shops employ millions of workers,               As of January 2020, the Field Buzz platform has                                           Index. Logistics is one of the key barriers to          Joonaak a natural fit. Joonaak offers an important
                               but are often operated in an informal, inefficient          processed more than 4.2 million transactions                                              the development of the sector, as lack of skills,       service to the country’s growing e-commerce
                               and non-transparent manner. This creates many               in Bangladesh since the launch of the software                                            equipment, time and capacity make it difficult          sector that is unmatched by any other player.”
                               systemic issues with cash collection, deliveries            in 2015 and has connected more than 3,000                                                 for small online merchants to get their product                    — Thomas Hundt, CEO of Smart Axiata
                               and inventory management, and makes it                      field agents to 330,000 micro-merchants and                                               to their customers.
                               impossible for these microentrepreneurs to grow             smallholder farmers.                                                                                                                              Impact to date
                               their businesses efficiently.                                                                                                                         The start-up                                            As of January 2020, Joonak has supported over
                                                                                           Mobile operator collaboration                                                             Joonaak provides last-mile delivery services and        200 active small merchants on its platform and
                               The start-up                                                “In July 2019, Field Buzz was one of                                                      warehousing facilities to small businesses wanting      delivers more than 17,000 packages per month.
                               Field Buzz’s smartphone- and web-based SaaS                 Grameenphone Cloud Store’s launch partners.                                               to grow their online sales. The service also includes   To date over 1,200 users have downloaded the iOS
                               ERP/CRM software helps organisations manage                 Field Buzz’s software provides solutions for a wide                                       a technology platform for small e-commerce              and android app.
                               dispersed activities and transactions in the ‘last          range of Grameenphone business customers with                                             businesses to track their sales and generate
                               mile’ in emerging markets, such as tracking                 field-based activities, making Field Buzz an ideal                                        reports through a proprietary dashboard.
                               distribution to small shops, interactions with              partner for Grameenphone. We are glad to see its
                               smallholder farmers, delivery of services to                development of smart solutions for digitalization                                         The project
      Founders                 low-income households and rural infrastructure              in Bangladesh and pleased to have them as a                      Founders                 Joonaak received a grant from the GSMA
      Alexis Rawlinson (CEO)   monitoring and maintenance.                                 partner of Grameenphone Cloud Store.”                            Soliya Kong (CEO)        Ecosystem Accelerator Innovation Fund in
      Habib Ullah Bahar                                                                      — Mohammad Zakaria Haider, Product Manager                     Leakhena Long            February 2018 to expand its operations and
                               The project                                                                         Cloud Store, Grameenphone                                         customer base through the design and launch of
                               Field Buzz received a grant from the GSMA                                                                                                             a mobile version of its web app that offers simple
      Country                  Ecosystem Accelerator Innovation Fund in                                                                                     Country                  monitoring and tracking for both clients and end
      Bangladesh               February 2018 to develop a more standardised                                                                                 Cambodia                 consumers.
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KARZO                                                                                                                                             NEH THIT
Online platform allowing       The problem                                              Impact to date                                            Low-income jobs platform                   The problem                                            The project
                               Despite more than 4,100 small companies                  As of January 2020, Karzo has built a network of                                                     While over 70 per cent of the adult population in      Neh Thit received a grant from the GSMA
businesses or individuals to   operating in the transportation and storage              over 3,020 truck drivers who have completed over
                                                                                                                                                  providing job matching,                    Myanmar owns a smartphone, a lack of quality           Ecosystem Accelerator Innovation Fund in
request a truck for pick-up    sector in Myanmar, small logistics companies             10,412 successful trips through the platform.             skills training and employer               job boards or platforms means the country’s            February 2018 to develop and expand its current
and delivery services          and independent truck owners are losing                                                                            transparency                               25 million low-income workers do not have              platform by improving the system through which
                               money every day from underutilised trucks                                                                                                                     efficient or dependable ways to find a job.            customer relationships are managed for both job
                               and an inefficient marketplace. Meanwhile,               Mobile operator collaboration                                                                        Although reliable statistics are lacking, youth        seekers and employers.
                               small businesses, MSMEs and businesses have              “Telenor Myanmar is pleased to offer an effective                                                    unemployment in the country is considered
                               no reliable, cost-efficient or trackable way to          and cost-efficient solution to Karzo to meet the                                                     high.                                                  Impact to date
                               manage logistics and facilitate deliveries.              start-up’s business needs. Pre-paid data SIM                                                                                                                As of January 2020, Neh Thit has helped over
                                                                                        cards from Telenor Myanmar enables Karzo to                                                          The start-up                                           413 job seekers to find employment while
                               The start-up                                             connect to its drivers’ fleet and run real-time                                                      Neh Thit is a job-matching platform for low-skilled    several thousands of users have taken its online
                               Karzo is an online marketplace that connects             tracking via GPS devices all around the clock.                                                       workers in Myanmar. Taking advantage of the high       professional skills course.
                               truck owners with businesses and individuals             With more than 8,600 network sites nationwide                                                        smartphone penetration and popularity of social
                               for efficient and reliable logistics and delivery        covering over 300 townships, Telenor serves                                                          media in the country, Neh Thit is using a Facebook
                               solutions. In signing up to Karzo’s platform,            more than 18 million customers in Myanmar                                                            Messenger chatbot to help match job seekers with
                               drivers and fleet owners gain access to orders for       through its high quality network supported by                                                        suitable employers. The platform also allows users
                               small retail and wholesale businesses on either a        2G/3G/4G technology.”                                                                                to take online professional skills courses.
                               contract or ad hoc basis.                                                   — Shwe Yinn Mar Oo, Manager,
                                                                                                                 External Communications,
       Founder                 The project                                                     Corporate Affairs Group, Telenor Myanmar                  Founder
       Alex Wicks (CEO)        Karzo received a grant from the GSMA Ecosystem                                                                            Conor Smith (CEO)
                               Accelerator Innovation Fund in February 2018                                                                              Bo Mee (Head of Customer Success)
                               to expand its operations locally by automating
                               most of its key processes. This automation phase
       Country                 includes the launch of a mobile app for SME                                                                               Country
       Myanmar                 customers to place truck orders.                                                                                          Myanmar
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SEHAT KAHANI                                                                                                                                           GREENOVATOR
m-Health services provided           The problem                                            of the six clinics acts as a referral point for patients   Digital marketplace for    The problem                                             The project
                                     World Bank data shows that only 0.9 per cent           who need further consultation and treatment.                                          Agriculture represents 38 per cent of Myanmar’s         Greenovator received a grant from the GSMA
by women doctors to                  of Pakistan’s GDP is spent on healthcare — eight
                                                                                                                                                       agricultural inputs and    GDP, employs 60 per cent of the active                  Ecosystem Accelerator Innovation Fund in
marginalised populations             times less than what is recommended by the             Mobile operator collaboration                              outputs                    population and uses close to 20 per cent of the         November 2018 to develop a marketplace service
through telehealth                   World Health Organization. Meanwhile, more             “At Jazz, we are always trying to revolutionise                                       country’s land. However, Myanmar’s agriculture          that provides farmers with information on
                                     than 60 per cent of Pakistan’s medical students        our products and provide better services to the                                       sector is not as efficient as it could be due to a      agricultural inputs and outputs. The service is in
                                     are women, but due to socio-cultural taboos            people of Pakistan. We’re excited to partner with                                     lack of agricultural information that is limiting       turn expected to help reduce costs and increase
                                     only 23 per cent of doctors are women, and this        Sehat Kahani as it gives us a chance to provide                                       crop yields, creating a disconnect between              incomes for farmers in Myanmar.
                                     number is even lower in rural areas.                   our customers with better healthcare through                                          buyers and sellers, and generating additional
                                                                                            the touch of a button. This partnership is a step                                     waste due to poor demand projection for                 Mobile operator collaboration
                                     The start-up                                           towards a better, healthier Pakistan where each                                       agricultural inputs. This lack of information           Greenovator partnered with Telenor Myanmar to
                                     Sehat Kahani provides affordable healthcare to         person, no matter what background he or she                                           also keeps smallholder farmers in poverty.              gain access to the mobile operator’s SMS gateway.
                                     populations in rural areas and urban slums across      is from, can get access to health education and                                       As a comparison, a farmer in Myanmar earns              As a result, Greenovator can now verify its users
                                     Pakistan. The platform connects users to qualified     consultations from doctors, anywhere.”                                                about $1.80–$2.50 per day in monsoon season             through SMS verification process. This allows users
                                     women doctors through virtual and mobile-                     — Aamer Ejaz, Chief Digital Officer of Jazz                                    compared to $10.00–$16.50 per day in Thailand           to access their services via Green Boxes, which
                                     enabled consultations. Patients can access the                                                                                               and $7.80 per day in the Philippines.                   are strategically located at agricultural shops
                                     service at community health clinics that Sehat         As of December 2918, Sehat Kahani collaborated                                                                                                and provides free WiFi access to users in order
                                     Kahani has equipped with tablets and turned into       with Jazz to integrate the Jazzcash wallet to                                                                                                 download the app. In February 2019, Greenovator
                                                                                                                                                                                  The start-up
                                     e-health centres. With the Sehat Kahani mobile         facilate all financial transactions.                                                                                                          also integrated with Wave Money by Telenor,
                                                                                                                                                                                  Greenovator’s platform provides information
                                     app, users can also access general preventive and                                                                                                                                                    which is a payment channel to their marketplace
                                                                                                                                                                                  for farmers, such as advice for producing better
      Founders                       mental health information.                             Impact to date                                                   Founders                                                                     platform. This allows farmers to buy materials for
                                                                                                                                                                                  yields, local weather, demand projection and daily
      Dr. Sara Saeed Khurram (CEO)                                                          As of January 2020, Sehat Kahani’s 26 e-health                   Yin Yin Phyu (CEO)                                                           their farms through a mobile phone.
                                                                                                                                                                                  prices. The solution also allows traders to identify
      Dr. Iffat Zafar                The project                                            centres have facilitated over 120,000 successful                 Thein Soe Min
                                                                                                                                                                                  where to source produce at the right time and
      Iffat (COO)                    Sehat Kahani received a grant from the GSMA            consultations. To date, over 1,500 female                                                                                                     Impact to date
                                                                                                                                                                                  provides a way for vendors to project demand for
                                     Ecosystem Accelerator Innovation Fund in February      physicians are engaged with the platform and                                          agricultural inputs.                                    As of January 2020, Greenovator has over
      Country                        2018 to deploy the health technology in six clinics    there are over 120,000 registered users using the                Country                                                                      90,000 users.
      Pakistan                       that support 120 community health workers. Each        e-health clinics and the mobile app.                             Myanmar
26                                                                              GSMA Ecosystem Accelerator Innovation Fund: Start-up Portfolio   27                                                                              GSMA Ecosystem Accelerator Innovation Fund: Start-up Portfolio

ODOC                                                                                                                                             PACIFIC ADS GROUP
Mobile-based telemedicine     The problem                                              Mobile operator collaboration                             Online marketplace and         The problem                                             The project
                              According to the World Health Organization,              “Through our partnership with oDoc, we                                                   Eighty-five per cent of the population in Papua         Pacific Ads Group received a grant from the
services for low-income       there are fewer than 0.9 physicians per 1,000            were able to provide an online video medical
                                                                                                                                                 service job-matching           New Guinea work in the informal economy.                GSMA Ecosystem Accelerator Innovation Fund in
earners                       people in Sri Lanka on average, making access            consultation solution to our customers much               platforms                      Small businesses are primarily informal                 November 2018 to develop a matching platform
                              to doctors and healthcare a serious issue. This          faster and more cost effectively rather than                                             operations with marketing channels limited to           for local service providers and potential local
                              ratio hides an even deeper disparity between             building it ourselves. By combining oDoc’s speed                                         word of mouth (short reach), directory services         customers, and to expand the service to five
                              urban and rural areas.                                   with our reach, we have been able to create and                                          (untrusted) and door-to-door (high cost).               cities across Papua New Guinea. The platform
                                                                                       distribute a market leading product that not only                                        Security issues also make it difficult to reach         is expected to allow service providers to better
                              The start-up                                             benefits us and oDoc but the country as well.”                                           new customers.                                          market themselves as trusted businesses, and
                              oDoc is a service connecting doctors with patients               — Suneth Haputhanthri, General Manager,                                                                                                  later to gain access to financial services, such as
                              virtually using mobile technology (smartphone                      eChannelling & Senior Manager, Mobitel                                         The start-up                                            credit to expand their business and increase their
                              app, SMS, voice and video) and mobile data to                                                                                                     Pacific Ads Group offers several online classifieds     income.
                              provide high-quality primary healthcare at an            Impact to date                                                                           across the Pacific, mainly for properties and cars.
                              affordable price.                                        As of January 2020, over 120,000 low-income                                              Users of such platforms often report difficulties
                                                                                       workers have access to oDoc’s medical                                                    finding local professionals to help with home
                              The project                                              consultation mobile app.                                                                 projects or maintenance. Pacific Ads Group is
                              oDoc received a grant from the GSMA Ecosystem                                                                                                     launching a new digital service to match local
                              Accelerator Innovation Fund in November 2018                                                                                                      professionals with potential local customers.
                              to scale up their service in Sri Lanka to offer low-
      Founders                income earners access to quality and affordable                                                                          Founders
      Heshan Fernando (CEO)   health services. oDoc will use mobile technology                                                                         Fredrik Orrenius (CEO)
      Sohan Dharmarajah       to provide health services to low-income earners                                                                         Nancy Lai
      Inshard Naizer          in factories, construction sites and the transport                                                                       Axel Peyriere
      Janaka Wickramasinghe   industry, while also providing convenient and                                                                            Andrew Runawary
                              affordable access for all other users.
      Country                                                                                                                                          Country
      Sri Lanka and India                                                                                                                              Papua New Guinea
28                                                                                  GSMA Ecosystem Accelerator Innovation Fund: Start-up Portfolio   29                                                                                 GSMA Ecosystem Accelerator Innovation Fund: Start-up Portfolio

QLUE                                                0186D5
                                                                                                                                                     SKYEYE
Civic engagement app for             The problem                                           to actively report or share their neighbourhood           Localisation and mapping      The problem                                                 Mobile operator collaboration
                                     According to the World Bank, over half of             conditions with city officials or businesses and                                        Samoa, like most other small Pacific Islands,               In January 2020 SkyEye integrated with Digicell’s
users to report or share             Indonesia’s population lives in cities, and by        receive an efficient response.
                                                                                                                                                     solution for transportation   has challenging logistical infrastructure due to            Mobile Money and BlueSky’s M-Tala (mobile
their neighbourhood                  2025 this will rise to two-thirds. However,                                                                     services                      the lack of a national addressing system. This              money) on the SkyEye MAUA app, enabling
conditions with city officials       resources for city services are often insufficient    Mobile operator collaboration                                                           makes it difficult for small businesses to market           customers to use their mobile wallet to make and
                                     or misdirected due to a lack of accurate data on      Qlue has a partnership with Telkomsel in the city                                       themselves and to use e-commerce to grow                    accept payments.
or businesses
                                     the performance of city departments and the           of Jakarta where Qlue offers a bundled smart                                            their business.
                                     needs of residents.                                   city solution to the mobile operator. Telkomsel                                                                                                     Impact to date
                                                                                           offers devices, network coverage, and marketing                                         The start-up                                                As of January 2020, over 1,300 users have
                                     The start-up                                          support to support Qlue for offering a platform                                         SkyEye develops services that harness mobile                registered on the SkyEye app.
                                     Qlue’s mobile-enabled platform offers two-            that citizens can use to record civic problems to                                       and geospatial technologies solutions to solve
                                     way communication for city residents and              the civic authority. Since signing the GSMA grant,                                      logistical challenges in Pacific Island countries.
                                     governments. Residents can request government         Qlue has expanded its operations and secure
                                     services and city governments can respond and         more partnerships with telecom operators such                                           The project
                                     provide updates on the status of those requests.      as Indosat Ooredoo. In February 2019, Qlue raised                                       SkyEye received a grant from the GSMA
                                     The data is compiled into actionable reports          an undisclosed amount from MDI Ventures, the                                            Ecosystem Accelerator Innovation Fund in
                                     for city leaders to better manage and allocate        corporate venture capital arm of Telkom Indonesia.                                      November 2018 to develop a platform for taxis
                                     resources. The reports are also available to the                                                                                              and delivery drivers to receive orders in real time.
                                     public and media, improving transparency.             Impact to date                                                                          In the absence of an effective address system,
                                                                                           As of January 2020, Qlue has channelled more                                            the platform leverages SkyEye’s GIS expertise to
       Founders                      The project                                           than 1 million reports from all Indonesia from over              Founders               locate pick-up and drop-off points. The platform
       Raditya Maulana Rusdi (CEO)   Qlue received a grant from the GSMA Ecosystem         640,000 registered app users.                                    Sam Saili (CEO)        is expected to create opportunities for small
       Andre Hutagalung (CTO)        Accelerator Innovation Fund in November 2018 to                                                                        Nome Saili             businesses and e-commerce players to deliver
                                     expand its existing civic engagement platform to                                                                                              their goods and to unlock new income for drivers.
                                     three new cities across Indonesia, which includes
       Country                       training for government staff and support with                                                                         Country
       Indonesia                     citizen engagement. The platform will allow users                                                                      Samoa
30                 GSMA Ecosystem Accelerator Innovation Fund: Start-up Portfolio   31                                                                                GSMA Ecosystem Accelerator Innovation Fund: Start-up Portfolio

AFRICA START-UPS                                                                    BISCATE
                                                                                    Platform using inclusive        The problem                                              The project
                                                                                                                    Data from the International Labour Organization          Biscate received a grant from the GSMA
                                                                                    mobile technologies to          shows that nine in 10 people in Mozambique               Ecosystem Accelerator Innovation Fund in April
                                                                                    connect skilled workers         work in the informal economy, one of the                 2017 to expand its service in Mozambique and
                                                                                    from the informal sector        highest ratios in the world. It is estimated             develop a feature to link workers to relevant

ROUND 1                                                                             with customers                  that 80 per cent of those under 35 lack stable
                                                                                                                    employment, with many struggling to meet day-
                                                                                                                    to-day living costs.
                                                                                                                                                                             training centres for skill building and certifications.

                                                                                                                                                                             Mobile operator collaboration
                                                                                                                                                                             “We as an operator provide one link of the chain.
                                                                                                                    The start-up                                             The Biscate team has the right expertise; they
                                                                                                                    Biscate, or ‘odd job’ in Portuguese, is a service co-    know how to brand the service and reach the
                                                                                                                    branded with Vodacom Mozambique that allows              community of users. With Biscate, Vodacom
ROUND 2                                                                                                             informal and often uncertified skilled workers
                                                                                                                    throughout the country to register and advertise
                                                                                                                                                                             wants to support a local success story.”
                                                                                                                                                                                            — Director, Vodacom Mozambique
                                                                                                                    their services with any basic mobile phone
                                                                                                                    using USSD technology. Biscate offers potential          Impact to date
                                                                                                                    customers access to a register of workers sorted         As of January 2020, over 33,505 workers and
                                                                                                                    by trade, location and experience level. Once a job      close to 75,000 users are registered on th Biscate’s

ROUND 3                                                                                   Founders
                                                                                                                    has been completed, customers can rate workers.          platform. Over 11,120 tasks and jobs have been
                                                                                                                                                                             completed on the platform (as of January 2020).

                                                                                          Frederico P Silva (CEO)
                                                                                          Tiago Borges Coelho
                                                                                          Ioannis Pannagiotou

                                                                                          Country
                                                                                          Mozambique
32                                                                               GSMA Ecosystem Accelerator Innovation Fund: Start-up Portfolio   33                                                                                      GSMA Ecosystem Accelerator Innovation Fund: Start-up Portfolio

KYTABU                                                                                                                                            OPTIMETRIKS
EdTech platform that leases   The problem                                               The project                                               Agile Sales Force                    The problem                                               2017 to improve the user-scoring mechanism,
                              In Kenya, the cost of school supplies and                 Kytabu received a grant from the GSMA                                                          Research by AT Kearney shows that in Kenya,               design customised training materials and deploy
out textbooks through apps    learning materials are inflated due to                    Ecosystem Accelerator Innovation Fund in April
                                                                                                                                                  Automation software                  about 70 per cent of the population do their              the service in Kenya and Uganda.
                              supply chain inefficiencies and trade issues.             2017 to make its existing mobile app available            to manage Africa’s                   daily shopping in open markets and through
                              Textbooks can cost up to a third of a middle-             on multiple platforms, create additional digital          informal distribution                other informal channels. The absence of reliable          Mobile operator collaboration
                              class household’s income, but these costs                 content and upgrade the capacity of the service.                                               socio-economic data in emerging markets is a              “Optimetriks is a relevant technological solution
                              disproportionately affect the poorest families                                                                                                           big obstacle to making good policy decisions.             that gives us real-time insights from our mobile
                              who can spend over half their income on                   Impact to date                                                                                 This is also a problem for the private sector,            money agents across Ghana, which we then use
                              education.                                                As of October 2018, Kytabu has over 7,810 users on                                             where a lack of basic market data and customer            to influence the performance of Tigo Cash. Their
                                                                                        its platform.                                                                                  feedback creates a barrier to investment for 55           end-to-end solution is easy to deploy, agile and
                              The start-up                                                                                                                                             per cent of brands in Africa.                             reliable.”
                              Kytabu is a leasing app for textbooks, which                                                                                                                                                                            — Carl Eli Pomeyie, Head of Mobile Financial
                              are downloadable from an online library on any                                                                                                           The start-up                                                                            Services, Tigo Ghana
                              internet-enabled device or pre-installed on a                                                                                                            Optimetriks helps FMCG companies operating
                              Kytabu tablet. By breaking textbooks down into                                                                                                           in Africa better understand their sales presence          Optimetriks regularly collaborates with MTN
                              leasable lessons, the aim is to make educational                                                                                                         and performance, either by conducting field               Uganda, Orange Mali, Orange Senegal and Orange
                              content more accessible and affordable to                                                                                                                visits to collect insights or by digitising the main      Guinée Bissau to collect retail insights. They
                              low- and middle-income families and improve                                                                                                              distribution process with their CRM software. It          deploy their Sales Force Automation software to
                              educational access across Kenya.                                                                                                                         relies on a user friendly Android app used by field       monitor the street marketing activities and Agent
                                                                                                                                                                                       sales, the distributors and the retailers for the data    Management activities for Vodacom Mozambique.
      Founders                                                                                                                                          Founders                       collection and real time reporting dashboards for
      Paul Mugambi (CEO)                                                                                                                                Paul Langlois-Meurinne (CEO)   the management.                                           Impact to date
      Tonee Ndungu                                                                                                                                      Marc de Courcel                                                                          As of Januaury 2020, Optimetriks processes
                                                                                                                                                                                       The project                                               200,000 sales transaction per month.
                                                                                                                                                                                       Optimetriks received a grant from the GSMA
      Country                                                                                                                                           Country                        Ecosystem Accelerator Innovation Fund in April
      Kenya                                                                                                                                             East Africa
34                                                                              GSMA Ecosystem Accelerator Innovation Fund: Start-up Portfolio   35                                                                             GSMA Ecosystem Accelerator Innovation Fund: Start-up Portfolio

PREPCLASS                                                                                                                                        RAYE7
Digital tutoring marketplace     The problem                                           The project                                               Culturally sensitive digital    The problem                                           Mobile operator collaboration
                                 At over 80 million, Nigeria has the world’s third     PrepClass received a grant from the GSMA                                                  In Cairo, traffic is a serious health, economic       “We believe that the integration of SMS API is just
that connects learners and       largest population of under 15s, comparable to        Ecosystem Accelerator Innovation Fund in April
                                                                                                                                                 carpooling solution for daily   and security issue. Vehicles are responsible for      a start of many initiatives between Orange Egypt
teachers                         the entire population of the European Union.          2017 to increase the number of tuition sessions           commuting                       26 per cent of air pollution, and Cairo traffic       and Raye7 to deliver a unique service to both
                                 Yet, in terms of quality and enrolment rates, its     completed through the platform by connecting                                              alone costs Egypt four per cent of its GDP every      Orange Egypt’s and Raye7’s customers and to
                                 school system from primary to higher education        more learners and tutors via a web and mobile                                             year. Unfortunately, public transportation is not     work coherently to solve, at least part of, Egypt’s
                                 is ranked very low at 120 out of 135 countries.       app.                                                                                      currently a reliable alternative, especially for      traffic problems.”
                                                                                                                                                                                 the 86 per cent of women who report feeling                     — Peter Kaldas Marketing Sr. Supervisor,
                                 The start-up                                          Impact to date                                                                            insecure.                                                                                  Orange Egypt
                                 PrepClass is a tutoring marketplace that connects     Between its launch in 2013 and January 2020,
                                 students and tutors through an online platform.       PrepClass has matched close to 147,049 learners                                           The start-up                                          Impact to date
                                 A pool of curated teachers who have been              and teachers’ - over 41% of which are female users.                                       Raye7 is a mobile-based carpooling service            As of January 2020, Raye7 has built a community
                                 interviewed and thoroughly vetted offer their                                                                                                   for daily commuting that relies on the trust of       of over 55,000 registered ride sharers (both drivers
                                 services to learners, providing a source of income                                                                                              community networks. Users receive cost-effective      and riders). Over 20 per cent of these users are
                                 for tutors while supporting the education of                                                                                                    transportation while drivers generate additional      women. Over 197,000 trips have been completed
                                 Nigeria’s students. PrepClass also launched a                                                                                                   daily income to offset the cost of their car,         through the platform since the service launched in
                                 mobile app called PrepTest, which provides tutors                                                                                               insurance and fuel. The service offers women the      late 2015.
                                 with a platform to upload learning content and for                                                                                              option to choose to only ride with other women
                                 learners to watch detailed video solutions.                                                                                                     from their community.

      Founders                                                                                                                                          Founders                 The project
      Chukwuwezam Obanor (CEO)                                                                                                                          Samira Negm (CEO)        Raye7 received a grant from the GSMA Ecosystem
      Olumide Ogunlana                                                                                                                                                           Accelerator Innovation Fund in April 2017 to scale
                                                                                                                                                                                 up their B2C business with large homogeneous
                                                                                                                                                                                 communities (e.g. universities, business parks)
      Country                                                                                                                                           Country                  who have long daily commutes from residential
      Nigeria                                                                                                                                           Egypt                    areas.
36                                                                         GSMA Ecosystem Accelerator Innovation Fund: Start-up Portfolio   37                                                                      GSMA Ecosystem Accelerator Innovation Fund: Start-up Portfolio

SAFEMOTOS                                                                                                                                   TWIGA FOODS
Localised and safety-      The problem                                            The project                                               Mobile-based supply       The problem                                          The project
                           Although low- and middle-income countries              SafeMotos received a grant from the GSMA                                            Agriculture accounts for over a quarter of           Twiga Foods received a grant from the GSMA
focused ride-hailing       have only half the world’s vehicles, they have 90      Ecosystem Accelerator Innovation Fund in April
                                                                                                                                            platform for small- and   Kenya’s GDP (or around half if other related         Ecosystem Accelerator Innovation Fund in April
platform for motorcycles   per cent of the world’s road traffic deaths. Africa    2017 to develop its existing product to provide           medium-sized fruit and    sectors are included), and over 75 per cent          2017 to build a mobile solution that enables
                           has the highest rates of traffic fatalities, making    drivers with more digital services, improve the           vegetable vendors         of the country’s population makes some part          vendors to place orders via feature phones and
                           its roads the most unsafe in the world.                customer experience with ordering and paying for                                    of their living from agriculture. However, the       smartphones, and to launch a blockchain-enabled
                                                                                  the service, and increase the number of trips per                                   Kenyan agricultural sector can be inefficient        financial services platform.
                           The start-up                                           month.                                                                              and complex, and food waste is high due to
                           SafeMotos is a safety-focused ride-hailing service                                                                                         inefficient handling practices. At the same time,    Mobile operator collaboration
                           for motorcycle taxis in Africa. The mobile-based       Impact to date                                                                      small- and medium-sized fruit and vegetable          Twiga Foods uses M-Pesa, Safaricom’s mobile
                           platform improves road safety and enables more         As of October 2018, SafeMotos has built a                                           vendors often lack access to a reliable supply of    money service, to manage and streamline their
                           transparent interactions between motorcycle taxi       network of over 150 active drivers in Rwanda and                                    affordable and quality products.                     payment processes for vendors and farmers.
                           drivers and customers. Drivers can differentiate       completed over 350,000 trips since it launched in                                                                                        Through M-Pesa, Twiga Foods makes about Kes
                           themselves from the competition and get more           2015.                                                                               The start-up                                         25,242,000 (approx. $250,000 USD) payments to
                           trips as customers know they are monitored                                                                                                 Twiga Foods runs a mobile-based B2B platform         farmers per week.
                           via smartphone sensors for their driving habits.                                                                                           that supplies fresh fruits and vegetables sourced
                           In return, customers have access to safer                                                                                                  from farmers in rural Kenya to small- and medium-    Impact to date
                           transportation options.                                                                                                                    sized roadside vendors. The mobile-based cashless    As of January 2020 Twiga Foods platform has
                                                                                                                                                                      platform allows Twiga Foods to offer higher prices   moved 400 tonnes of produce allowing the 8,900
                                                                                                                                                                      and a guaranteed market to farmers, and lower        farmers registered on the platform to boost their
      Founders                                                                                                                                    Founders            prices and a reliable supply to vendors. It also     income by over $50 per month.
      Barett Nash (CEO)                                                                                                                           Peter Njonjo        helps to reduce post-harvest losses and waste as
      Peter Kariuki                                                                                                                                                   it matches demand with supply. Consumers also
                                                                                                                                                                      benefit as they are able to buy fresher products
                                                                                                                                                                      at lower prices thanks to a more efficient supply
      Country                                                                                                                                     Country             chain.
      Rwanda                                                                                                                                      Kenya
38                                                                            GSMA Ecosystem Accelerator Innovation Fund: Start-up Portfolio   39                                                                              GSMA Ecosystem Accelerator Innovation Fund: Start-up Portfolio

ENSIBUUKO                                                                                                                                      FARMCROWDY
Cloud-based core banking      The problem                                            The project                                               Online platform for             The problem                                            The project
                              According to the World Bank, over three million        Ensibuuko received a grant from the GSMA                                                  Agriculture represents 23 per cent of Nigeria’s        Farmcrowdy received a grant from the GSMA
software customised           people across Uganda are using the country’s           Ecosystem Accelerator Innovation Fund in
                                                                                                                                               individuals and businesses      GDP, and while smallholder farmers produce 90          Ecosystem Accelerator Innovation Fund in
for Savings and Credit        6,000 Savings and Credit Cooperatives                  February 2018 to design, build and integrate              to invest in farming projects   per cent of the country’s agricultural output,         February 2018 to develop a mobile solution aimed
Cooperatives (SACCOs)         (SACCOs) to access financial services. Most            a mobile banking platform into their existing                                             they have little access to credit to sustain and       at allowing farmers and sponsors to interact while
                              SACCOs still rely heavily on rudimentary               group banking software platform to improve the                                            grow their businesses. Between 2009 and 2013,          also delivering other services to farmers, such as
                              manual management of financial information.            quality and range of financial services available to                                      less than three per cent of all annual credit          information, electronic payments and training.
                              Inefficiency, human error and fraud have               SACCOS in Uganda.                                                                         issued by deposit money banks in the country
                              become typical of these institutions and are                                                                                                     went to smallholder farmers.                           Impact to date
                              undermining their ability to deliver financial         Mobile operator collaboration                                                                                                                    As of January 2020, Farmcrowdy has helped
                              services to the underbanked.                           “We value Ensibuuko’s business and we are                                                 The start-up                                           over 25,800 farmers across 16 states in Nigeria to
                                                                                     confident and hopeful that Ensibuuko will                                                  Farmcrowdy’s digital platform connects investors       receive over $18,148,000 in sponsorship for the
                              The start-up                                           continue to touch and support the community                                               to farmers through sponsorship packages that           purchase of agricultural inputs.
                              Ensibuuko uses mobile money and the cloud, in          through the provision of quality and dependable                                           fund higher yields for a share of the returns. The
                              collaboration with Airtel and MTN, to help SACCOs      services.”                                                                                service allows the sponsors to browse and select
                              in Uganda mobilise and manage savings to offer                    — Jeremiah Kasirye, Head of Network                                            screened agricultural opportunities by produce
                              credit efficiently. Its customised software, Mobis,                        Infrastructure, Airtel Uganda                                         type, funding amount, contract duration and
                              enables SACCOs to gain better insights from their                                                                                                expected returns.
                              data, manage transactions and credit efficiently,      Impact to date
                              and make data-driven decisions.                        As of January 2020, over 230,900 end users have
      Founders                                                                       benefited from Ensibuuko’s service through their                 Founders
      Gerald Otim (CEO)                                                              respective SACCOs.                                               Onyeka Akumah (CEO)
      Opio Obwangamoi David                                                                                                                           Akindele Phillips
                                                                                                                                                      Tope Omotolani
                                                                                                                                                      Jimoh Maiyegun
      Country
                                                                                                                                                      Country
      Uganda
                                                                                                                                                      Nigeria
40                                                                            GSMA Ecosystem Accelerator Innovation Fund: Start-up Portfolio   41                                                                           GSMA Ecosystem Accelerator Innovation Fund: Start-up Portfolio

JAMII                                                                                                                                          LIPAMOBILE
Mobile microhealth             The problem                                           Mobile operator collaboration                             Xuldime is a school fee   The problem                                               The project
                               Less than 30 per cent of people in Tanzania           “The partnership with Jamii is rather exemplary                                     Households in Uganda typically pay 100 per cent           LipaMobile received a grant from the GSMA
insurance product for Africa   currently have access to health insurance.            and we are positive we will replicate the same in
                                                                                                                                               management and payment    of the costs for pre-primary education, 76 per            Ecosystem Accelerator Innovation Fund in
                               The remaining 35 million, who often work in           other countries where Vodacom is present in a             system for parents        cent for secondary and 70 per cent for tertiary.          February 2018 to consolidate and expand the
                               the informal economy, must pay for health             bid to serve the underserved through a cashless                                     However, according to the World Bank, just 16             Xuldime service in Uganda, with a key focus
                               services every time they need them. Due to high       and paperless microhealth insurance product.”                                       per cent of adults keep their savings at formal           on rural Uganda where most parents have low
                               administration costs, large insurance companies                   — Vincent Ndekana Polycarp, Head of                                     deposit-taking institutions (banks, microfinance          incomes.
                               rarely serve small enterprises or Tanzanians                   m-Commerce Product Development and                                         institutions or savings and credit institutions),
                               making less than $100 a month.                                           Marketing, Vodacom Tanzania                                      which means managing and paying for school                Impact to date
                                                                                                                                                                         fees and school-related expenses is a major               As of October 2018, two secondary schools
                               The start-up                                          Impact to date                                                                      challenge for most households.                            have been enrolled on the school fees payment
                               Jamii is a mobile management platform for health      As of January 2020, over 11,750 people have been                                                                                              component of the Xuldime service, and 1,382
                               insurance policies that performs the administrative   covered by health insurance offered through Jamii.                                  The start-up                                              students have been enrolled to pay fees via this
                               functions of an insurer while providing access to                                                                                         LipaMobile’s Xuldime service is an integrated             module.
                               low-cost microhealth insurance policies for MSMEs.                                                                                        cashless platform for parents, school
                               The policies are ordered and paid for on mobile                                                                                           administrators, and school canteen vendors and
                               phones via USSD and mobile money in partnership                                                                                           suppliers to pay for school fees, supplies and
                               with Vodacom Tanzania.                                                                                                                    services. The product is aimed at parents with no
                                                                                                                                                                         fixed earnings for whom lump sum payments of
                               The project                                                                                                                               school fees can be difficult. It also offers a savings
      Founder                  Jamii received a grant from the GSMA Ecosystem                                                                       Founder              platform where parents can periodically load
      Rayah Ndagire (CEO)      Accelerator Innovation Fund in February 2018 to                                                                      Laban Jemba (CEO)    money and set payment dates for direct deposits
                               increase the adoption of microhealth insurance                                                                                            into the school’s bank account.
                               service by MSMEs in Tanzania by facilitating
                               mobile-only onboarding of users.
      Country                                                                                                                                       Country
      Tanzania                                                                                                                                      Uganda
42                                                                            GSMA Ecosystem Accelerator Innovation Fund: Start-up Portfolio   43                                                                               GSMA Ecosystem Accelerator Innovation Fund: Start-up Portfolio

LYNK                                                                                                                                           MATONTINE
A digital platform that      The problem                                             The project                                               Solution to digitise            The problem                                             The project
                             According to a World Bank report, the informal          Lynk received a grant from the GSMA Ecosystem                                             UNCDF data shows that only 25 per cent of               MaTontine received a grant from the GSMA
connects households and      sector accounts for close to 83 per cent of             Accelerator Innovation Fund in February 2018 to
                                                                                                                                               traditional savings circles     adults in Senegal have access to a bank account         Ecosystem Accelerator Innovation Fund in
businesses with informal     Kenya’s employment, which for millions of               develop a worker-facing mobile app to enhance             (tontines) and facilitate       of any kind, and this rate drops below 10 per           February 2018 to scale the digital platform and
workers, artisans and        workers means uncertainty, low pay and few              worker engagement with its job matching and               access to credit and            cent in rural areas. As most of the population          incorporate a credit scoring functionality to
                             opportunities for career advancement. Good              e-commerce platform. This in turn aims to enhance                                         are unable to access any form of credit, they           facilitate small loans and other financial services
tradespeople                                                                                                                                   financial services
                             work does not necessarily mean more work or             the scalability and efficiency of the platform by                                         instead rely on traditional, informal rotating          like microinsurance from third-party providers.
                             higher pay, and positive feedback and a strong          reducing Lynk’s manual operating processes. It                                            savings circles called tontines, usually managed
                             track record of work do not generally translate         also empowers workers to manage their own                                                 by women. As these saving circles are operated          Impact to date
                             into borrowing power or the ability to start a          profiles as small businesses, manage multiple jobs,                                       manually, the risk of fraud and disputes is high        As of January 2020, MaTontine has built a
                             formal business.                                        widen their offerings and boost their incomes.                                            and limits their potential.                             community of over 5,150 active members - over
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       90 per cent of whom are women - across twelve
                             The start-up                                            Mobile operator collaboration                                                             The start-up                                            regions of Senegal. To date, over quarter of million
                             Lynk’s core offering is to connect informal workers     In February 2019, Lynk started a new collaboration                                        MaTontine offers a mobile-based automated               million dollars has been saved through MaTontine
                             to suitable jobs. Users submit their service request    with Safaricom’s e-commerce platform, Masoko, to                                          platform for tontines using SMS, USSD and mobile        services.
                             on the platform, which is then forwarded to             launch a pilot to cross-sell Lynk services.                                               money technologies. By allowing users to build
                             available service providers via SMS. Interested                                                                                                   their credit scores over time, MaTontine makes it
                             service providers can bid for the job by replying to    Impact to date                                                                            possible for them to access financial services, such
                             the job message. Once users select their preferred      As of January 2020, over 45,000 jobs have been                                            as small loans and insurance. The community-
                             worker, the job is delivered onsite. Customers pay      booked and completed through Lynk’s platform,                                             focused platform is deployed and run by tontine
      Founders               via mobile money or card, and are prompted to           creating jobs for over 1,300 active registered                   Founders                 managers who generate some revenue through
      Adam Grunewald (CEO)   provide a service rating.                               worker users. Lynk has to date transferred over                  Bernie Akporiaye (CEO)   this activity.
      Johannes Degn                                                                  4.5 million (USD) to its registered workers.                     Tosan Oruwariye

      Country                                                                                                                                         Country
      Kenya                                                                                                                                           Senegal
44                                                                            GSMA Ecosystem Accelerator Innovation Fund: Start-up Portfolio   45                                                                           GSMA Ecosystem Accelerator Innovation Fund: Start-up Portfolio

MUSANGA LOGISTICS                                                                                                                              SUDPAY
Mobile platform to send      The problem                                             The project                                               Mobile solution for small   The problem                                             The project
                             While youth make up almost two-thirds of                Musanga received a grant from the GSMA                                                In Senegal, up to 70 per cent of local taxes            SudPay received a grant from the GSMA
parcels through a network    Zambia’s working-age population, almost 25              Ecosystem Accelerator Innovation Fund in
                                                                                                                                               merchants to pay taxes      go uncollected due to fraud and lack of                 Ecosystem Accelerator Innovation Fund in
of independent cyclists,     per cent are unemployed. Meanwhile, local small         February 2018 to expand their operations and              to municipal authorities    transparency at different stages of the collection      February 2018 to set up and roll out TownPay in
riders and drivers           businesses and shops face simple infrastructure         platform in three cities across Zambia. The end           transparently               process. This missed income in turn prevents            several municipalities of Dakar to assist with tax
                             challenges, such as timely delivery of packages         goal is to empower microentrepreneurs (drivers,                                       municipalities from improving public services           collection and increase the budget available for
                             and inventory.                                          riders) who will in turn support local small                                          (mainly healthcare, schools and roads), which           local public services.
                                                                                     businesses and shops.                                                                 has a direct impact on the local population.
                             The start-up                                                                                                                                                                                          Impact to date
                             Musanga is a delivery service for packages in           Mobile operator collaboration                                                         The start-up                                            As of January 2020, nine municipalities have
                             Lusaka. Packages are delivered within one to            “This is an exciting opportunity for us to add                                        TownPay is a solution developed by SudPay to            signed up for the service. More than 24,000
                             three hours and instant proof of delivery is            value and help our people. I am a firm believer in                                    allow municipalities to automate, and later digitise,   merchants have been enrolled since April 2018 and
                             provided. It enables small businesses and shops         Africa’s potential in the platform economy. Well                                      the collection of local taxes from MSMEs to reduce      more than half have already paid their taxes using
                             to lower their logistical costs and enables informal    done to the team at Musanga. We are on your                                           fraud and improve collection rates. The solution        the solution since tax collection started in late
                             microentrepreneurs with underutilised assets like       side.”                                                                                initially equips municipal tax collectors with          June 2018.
                             motorbikes, bicycles or trucks, to fulfil last-mile                 — Charles Molapisi, CEO, MTN Zambia                                       proprietary mobile terminals and municipalities
                             deliveries through Musanga’s mobile platform and                                                                                              with digital dashboards to track tax collection.
                             earn extra income. Through a collaboration with         Impact to date
                             MTN, Musanga is also aiming to offer its customers      Between April and October 2018, over 48,000
                             and drivers access to a set of mobile financial         kilometres have been driven by Musanga’s
      Founders               services.                                               network of drivers and bicycle riders (whose                     Founders
      Njavwa Mutambo (CEO)                                                           average age is under 28) to complete deliveries                  Samba Sow (CEO)
      Emmanuel Kwenda                                                                through the platform.                                            Ngom Pathé Faye

      Country                                                                                                                                         Country
      Zambia                                                                                                                                          Senegal
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